After being benched by coach Fernando Santos in the last 16 match against Switzerland, football fans around the world went into a rage.
But one particular reaction caught all the attention when Ronaldo’s girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez took to Instagram to share a post in which she slammed Portugal Coach Santos for benching him.
“Congratulations Portugal. While the 11 players sang the national anthem, all the cameras were trained on you. What a shame we couldn’t enjoy the best player in the world for 90 minutes. The crowd kept calling you and shouting your name. Hope God and your true friend Fernando stay close and give us another magical night.”
Ronaldo hasn’t started a game for Portugal at a major tournament for the first time since 2008.
Goncalo Ramoswho started in place of Ronaldo, vindicated the shock decision by scoring a hat-trick on his comprehensive debut as Portugal demolished Switzerland 6-1 on Tuesday to advance to the World Cup quarter-finals.
The introduction of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner in the 73rd minute sparked the biggest roar of the night. Ronaldo had the ball in the back of the net but he was ruled out for a clear offside.
The only man to score at five World Cups, Ronaldo was left out by Santos against the Swiss following his angry reaction to being substituted in the final group game.
Santos later said the decision to bench the Portuguese star was “strategic and nothing more”, unrelated to his substitution against South Korea.
(With agency contributions)
