World Cup 2022 – Cristiano Ronaldo’s representative outshines everyone: Portugal breaks up weak Swiss in the round of 16

Portugal coach Fernando Santos surprised with an unusual eleven: Joao Cancelo, Ruben Neves and superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who have played from the start in every group game so far, only had one place on the bench against Switzerland.

There were a total of eight changes in the starting lineup. Only Diogo Costa, Pepe and Diogo Dalot remained in the squad compared to the game against South Korea. Switzerland, on the other hand, did not dare to experiment: Only Yann Sommer was back in charge after recovering from a cold and Edimilson Fernandes replaced the injured Silvan Widmer on the right back.

Santos was right with his formation: his Portuguese started dominantly and quickly made it 1-0: the young Ronaldo substitute Goncalo Ramos received the ball at an unfavorable angle in the box, but then took off with his left foot so uncompromisingly and hard that the ball rushed past Sommer and hit the bar (18th).

The Selecao kept the pressure on and were rewarded fifteen minutes later: after a perfectly tempered corner, Pepe won the aerial duel with Manuel Akanji and heaved the ball into the goal from close range (33rd) – shortly before half-time Ramos missed after a brilliant save von Sommer even got his brace (43rd).

So the frustrated Swiss crept off the field after a desolate 45 minutes. But the remaining hopes of the Nati were quickly destroyed. The preliminary decision was made in the 51st minute when the young Ramos tied his double and completed it from close range after a cross from Dalot.

Four minutes later, Guerreiro put the ball under the bar with a great finish (55′), before Akanji (58′) pushed the ball over the line after a corner kick to give Switzerland a consolation goal.

Ramos then finally became the man of the night in the 67th minute when the 21-year-old from Benfica lobbed the ball over Sommer to score his third goal of the game. In injury time, substitute Leao broke through again on the left and flicked the ball into the top right corner with an inside instep (90+2).

After the final whistle, the Portuguese not only celebrated a 6-1 thrashing of the tired and uninspired Swiss team, but also made it into the quarter-finals.

The votes for the game:

Goncalo Ramos (Portugal): “Of course it was a dream that will come true: to start today and then contribute immediately. If I keep giving everything, I’ll be there in the next game. Before the game I also spoke to Cristiano Ronaldo, our captain.”

Fernando Santos (Portugal): “We wanted the team to be very fluid. We were very good, had a lot of possession, a lot of confidence and let the ball flow. Everything worked well today.”

Murat Yakin (national coach Switzerland): “Unfortunately, the plan didn’t work out, but we have to accept that. Defeats hurt. We’re sad. We wanted to make our country happy, but that didn’t work out. The opponent got off to a good start. A lot of things didn’t go well .

The tweet about the game:

That was noticeable: Portugal a serious title candidate?

In the run-up to the World Cup, the Portuguese were repeatedly mentioned as one of the favorites for the title, but never in the top tier of title contenders. This assessment must be revised after today’s game at the latest. Portugal presented themselves as a stormy, unleashed unit, which the Swiss defense could not even begin to match. Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes and Otavio fed the attacking line with perfectly tempered and placed passes, which Ramos and Joao Felix received and completed in furious cooperation. At the back, the unit formed by Ruben Dias and Pepe cleared everything that got in front of their goal – Diogo Costa provided a strong backing. In addition, the Portuguese squad is blessed with players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruben Neves or Rafael Leao coming off the bench of a rarely seen breadth. In this condition, the Selecao must be title contenders.

The number for the game: 3

Of course, the 21-year-old Goncalo Ramos deserves a special award after this mad game. The Benfica striker had played zero caps for Portugal prior to his World Cup call-up, only amassed 37 minutes in group matches before having to follow in Cristiano Ronaldo’s footsteps in the round of 16: the pressure couldn’t be greater. Nevertheless, Ramos didn’t care, with three goals and one assist he won the Man-of-the-Match title in a spectacular manner and thus drew impressive attention to himself on the biggest football stage.