LUSAIL, Qatar — Portugal booked their place in the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time for 16 years with a impressive 6-1 win over Switzerland despite coach Fernando Santos deciding to bench Cristiano Ronaldo.
– Report: Portugal thrash Switzerland, book QF date with Morocco
Ronaldo’s replacement, 21-year-old Goncalo Ramos, more than justified his selection with a hat-trick while veteran defender Pepe, Raphael Guerreiro and substitute Rafael Leao also found the net. Manuel Akanji got Switzerland’s goal, though it was nothing more than a consolation.
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Victory for Portugal sets up a quarterfinal tie with Morocco, who beat Spain on penalties earlier on Tuesday, and after such a convincing win in the last-16, they will fancy their chances of reaching the semifinals for the first time since 2006.
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Rapid Reaction
1. Fernando Santos gets big calls right as Portugal make huge statement
Portugal manager Fernando Santos made two big decisions with his team selection, and he couldn’t have asked for a better end result. The most surprising, undoubtedly, was axing Cristiano Ronaldo for Ramos — the latter had enjoyed just 33 minutes of international before kick-off — but the Benfica striker repaid his faith with three goals, the first of which was a shot fired into the top corner from an angle so tight that there was a moment of stunned silence in the stadium before Portugal fans realised it had gone in.
It went almost unnoticed amid the noise around Ronaldo, but Santos also dropped Manchester City full-back Joao Cancelo and instead picked Diogo Dalot at right-back and Guerreiro on the left. And as if Ramos, just two years old when Ronaldo made his international debut, hadn’t done enough to vindicate Santos’ management, Dalot provided the assist for Portugal’s third goal — scored by Ramos — before Guerreiro got the fourth.
