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Sport Football World Cup Portugal boss Fernando Santos has ‘no regrets’ over Cristiano Ronaldo benching Ronaldo was left out from the start before Portugal were shocked by Morocco
Ronaldo in tears as Portugal knocked out World Cup by Morocco Your support helps us to tell the story This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story. The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Close Read more Portugal boss Fernando Santos insisted he had no regrets about leaving Cristiano Ronaldo out of the starting line-up for their World Cup quarter-final loss to Morocco.
Having dropped Ronaldo for the 6-1 victory over Switzerland and seen his replacement Goncalo Ramos score a hat-trick, Santos stuck with the same team.
Youssef En-Nesyri put Morocco ahead in the first half and Santos sent on Ronaldo early in the second but he made little impact and walked off the pitch in tears at the end of the 1-0 defeat, his last chance of a World Cup winners’ medal surely gone.
Santos defended his team selection, saying: “No regrets. I think this was a team which played very well against Switzerland. Cristiano’s a great player. He came on when we thought that was necessary.”
Ronaldo’s appearance was his 196th international appearance, equalling the men’s world record of Kuwait’s Badr Al-Mutawa.
Joao Felix proved the biggest danger for Portugal and he twice forced impressive saves out of Morocco keeper Bono, while Pepe had a golden chance to equalise with almost the last kick of the game.
“Of course our players are distressed, they are upset,” said Santos. “We are even more upset because we know we have skilful players and we were expecting to give more joy to the Portuguese people.
“We knew the challenges we would face, especially in terms of defensive strategy. We tried to make the game hard for our opponents but we were not successful.
“Obviously we also need to give credit to the Moroccan squad. I think it’s not fair for us to lose but that’s football.”
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