Coach Fernando Santos defended his decision to bench Ronaldo in the 2022 World Cup knockout matches and said he has no regrets, because this is the best thing for the Portuguese national team.
Coach Santos sat Ronaldo out in the win against South Korea in the round of 16 and in the loss to Morocco in the quarterfinals. This decision shocked the world , but Besiktas’ new coach insisted it was not a mistake.
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Coach Fernando Santos said at the launch of the new team: “I must reiterate that leaving Ronaldo on the bench is a tactical and technical decision of the coaching staff. We discussed it with each other and decided not to. Is there any other situation than that (putting Ronaldo on the bench). I don’t regret this.
For me, the Portuguese team’s strategy throughout the season is always the most important thing. And according to tactical considerations, I had to leave Ronaldo on the bench. All for the common good of the entire team. I had to make that decision and I was right. If we are not eliminated from the World Cup, there will certainly be no controversial issues.”
Coach Santos also talked about his behavior with the influential star at the 2022 FIFA World Cup: “I told Ronaldo directly that he was not allowed to play in the starting round of 16. Of course, Ronaldo was not happy. happy with the conversation, that’s normal in my opinion.
Everyone kept making noise, but actually it was just a normal conversation where everyone had the right to express their opinion. When a player who is the captain of the Portuguese team has to sit on the bench, people see that he is unhappy, but that is normal.
I remember very clearly when I told Ronaldo that he would not start the match, Ronaldo asked me if this was a good idea ? He also seemed quite uncomfortable. Of course Ronaldo is not happy. But I guarantee Ronaldo never wanted to give up the national team.”
However, Fernando Santos’ decision to exclude Ronaldo was criticized by Madeira Region President Miguel Albuquerque after Portugal was eliminated from the FIFA World Cup. Albuquerque did not hesitate to criticize coach Santos for placing Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench and even sarcastically said that he was happy with Santos losing his job.
Mr. Albuquerque said on Record: “It’s terrible that a coach with the best player in the world would sit out. Maybe he wanted to humiliate Ronaldo. I’m very happy that coach Santos was fired.” Cristiano Ronaldo played 82 matches under coach Fernando Santos and scored 68 goals. The Portuguese team won the EURO 2016 championship and the UEFA League title before the coach resigned in 2022.
Currently, Cristiano Ronaldo is still playing for the Portuguese team, while coach Santos also has a new job. He had a short period of coaching for the Polish national team after leaving Portugal and recently joined the Besiktas team.
