DOHA, Qatar | Even when Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t there, he’s the center of attention. It’s the elephant in the room.
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During Portugal’s press conference ahead of their quarter-final match against Morocco on Saturday, there was a lot of talk about the legendary striker.
This has been at the center of controversy since coach Fernando Santos chose to leave him on the bench in the round of 16.
As the Portuguese demolished Switzerland by a score of 6 to 1 and Ronaldo did not participate in the scoring after the 74th minute, the Portuguese press made a big deal out of the situation.
Leave it alone
Santos explained in detail how he made his decision, but especially how he announced it to his 37-year-old veteran. But he especially underlined the fact that too much importance was attached to the situation.
“In a press conference, 90% of the questions are about him,” insisted Santos. But whether or not I spoke to him before a game or on the day of the game, what does it matter? »
For the past few days, we have been hearing about a possible premature departure from Qatar for Ronaldo, who would be frustrated by the situation, which made Santos complain.
“He never told me he wanted to leave our national team and I think it’s high time to end this controversy. In this match, he was the one who took the initiative in the warm-up and he celebrated all the goals. It was even he who invited his teammates to thank the fans. You have to leave him alone. »
Better without Ronaldo
Moroccan coach Walid Regragui also entered the debate when asked if he preferred to face Portugal with or without Ronaldo.
“It’s going to be a tough match, they have quality everywhere. Will Ronaldo play? As a coach, I hope he doesn’t play because he’s one of the best players in history. »
If he says that, it is because he knows full well that his team is starting to accumulate fatigue despite his good performances.
“We played a lot of big cars from the start, we released a lot of energy. We played Croatia, Belgium, Canada which is one of the best teams in North America and Spain which is the team that makes you run the most. »
“The more the matches progress, the more the difficulty is more important. It’s one of the best teams in the world. We will try to create a surprise again because no one was expecting us in the quarters. »
Don’t ignite
It will be a third clash in history between the two nations who have split the honors of the first two matches. In 1986, Morocco beat Portugal in the last group stage match to qualify for the finals for the first and only other time in their history.
What’s more, Morocco, only the fourth African country to reach the quarter-finals, could become the first country from Africa to play in the semi-finals if they defeat Portugal.
“We must not ignite, warned Régragui. We had a performance against Spain. Are we able to do it again four days later? This is the challenge that I issue to my players. »
As Regragui said, nobody was expecting his team in the quarter-finals. However, he chooses to keep both feet firmly planted on the ground while Morocco, Africa and the Arab world line up behind his team.
“I haven’t climbed into the cloud yet,” he says. We are trying to change the mentality. This is what happens outside, but we are in the competition. We can still do more and better.
“The moment people think that, we’re going to get tough to beat. For the moment, we have just thwarted a few statistics from universities who had fun making predictions. We are here to annoy all that. The players are hungry and don’t believe they are just happy to be in the quarter. »