CRISTIANO RONALDO is one of the most famous players in the history of football and arguably the most famous person in the world.
He has scored eight goals in 20 World Cup matches and holds the world record for international goals scored.
Over 20 years, his record has been simply stunning.
Therefore it was a surprise that he was not in the Portugal team for their last-16 World Cup tie against Switzerland.
However, the decision by Fernando Santos to bench Ronaldo was fully vindicated – as they went on to win 6-1, with the striker coming on with 17 minutes of normal time to go.
He had started all three of Portugal’s World Cup group games previously but dropped against the Swiss – the same happened against Morocco.
The Portuguese icon, 37, was been dropped again for their game against Morocco.
But he came on after 51 minutes for Ruben Neves.
The same happened in the stunning 6-1 win over Switzerland.
Fernando Santos has opted to go with Benfica forward Goncalo Ramos, 21, instead.
Incredibly, Ramos went on to score a stunning hat-trick for Portugal against their European rivals.
It meant Ronaldo found himself on the bench again, a place he got all-too familiar with for Manchester United earlier this season.
That is, before he and the club mutually agreed to tear up his contract.
Perhaps Santos was hedging his bets, knowing that if the tie went to extra time and penalties, it would have been more useful having Ronaldo come off the bench and score a penalty.
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