Cristiano Ronaldo’s quest to win a FIFA World Cup ended in tears on Saturday after Portugal’s stunning 1-0 loss to Morocco. Morocco thus became the first African team to make it to the semi-final of the World Cup and Ronaldo came only as a second half substitute.
Ronaldo had been benched for Portugal’s round of 16 match against Switzerland as well. While Portugal ended up winning that game 6-1, they could not find a way past the staunch Moroccan defence despite hitting them with multiples waves of attacks for much of the second half. Morocco were dealt further blows in the form of their captain and ace centre back Roman Saiss being stretchered off with an injury and going down to 10 men in stoppage time.
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Former Portugal captain Luis Figo, who used to wear the number 7 shirt before Ronaldo, has slammed head coach Fernando Santos for not including the former Real Madrid forward in the starting XI. “You can’t win a Football World Cup with Ronaldo on the bench. Alright you won against Switzerland? Great result! But can you do this every game? No. Leaving Ronaldo out was a mistake, this loss is on the team management and the manager,” said Figo on Sports18.
The Qatar World Cup is widely expected to be the 38-year-old Ronaldo’s last appearance in the tournament and even his final appearance in a Portugal shirt. Saturday’s quarter-final was Ronaldo’s 196th appearance for the national team, making him the joint most capped player in the history of international football. Ronaldo was in tears as he made his way to the locker room following Portugal’s 1-0 loss to Morocco in the World Cup quarterfinals on Saturday.
Reaching the quarterfinals was the minimum expected of Portugal considering the depth of talent in its squad. The team sailed through the group phase by winning its opening two games. Coach Fernando Santos rotated most of his starting lineup for the final group-stage match against South Korea, which won 2-1 on a late goal, and then thrashed Switzerland 6-1 in the round of 16. Despite Morocco’s strong defense and status as the surprise of the tournament, Portugal was still expected to beat the North African nation in the quarterfinals so, in that sense, it is another missed opportunity and probably an overall underperformance by Ronaldo and his team.
