Portugal routed Switzerland led by Goncalo Ramos’ amazing three goals to lift the team to the first World Cup quarter-finals appearance since 2006. Follow for more updates on today’s football match here!
What an impressive hat-trick from Goncalo Ramos, as Portugal advanced out of the round of 16 with 6-1 trouncing of Switzerland. Fernando Santos made huge and significant changes in the starting lineup by putting Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench and putting Goncalo Ramos instead – and it pays off. After Ronaldo committed a misconduct during the South Korea match, he was benched and Portugal made an astounding performance of the tournament so far. Ramos , 21 year-old, now has registered three goals in the World Cup. You may visit us for more Ronaldo football player news here!
The 39 year-old veteran Pepe, joined the goal party in the first half, he was wearing a captain’s armband in Ronaldo’s absence. Ramos scored his second goal in the second half – while Raphael Guerreiro added the Portugal’s fourth goal, until Ramos clinched his third goal at the 67th minute to become the first player to score a hat-trick in the knock-out stages of World Cup since 1990.
Fernando Santos made great adjustments on the line-up, to bench Ronaldo and use the capabilities of other players to fill the void in Ronaldo’s absence. You will find balance and the real team game on how Portugal dominates Switzerland, it’s a full team effort. Santos also removed Ruben Neves and Joao Cancelo from the starting line-up.
At 39 years-old, Pepe became the oldest player to score in the men’s knockout stage of the World Cup. Manuel Akanji did not let the game end without a score for Switzerland, he netted a consolation goal but was too late for a comeback.
Portugal are only the second team to score six or more goals in the knockout stage match in the World Cup after Germany’s 7-1 rampage over Brazil in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals. It was truly a team win for Portugal, thanks to Fernando Santos’ bold decisions to bench some veteran players including Ronaldo, Neves, and Cancelo, instead of using a balanced and versatile lineup to shock Switzerland.
Switzerland midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri apologizes to their fans following a humiliating defeat over Portugal in the round of 16. “Today we have to apologize to all Switzerland fans in the name of the team. That was not our true face tonight,” Shaqiri said. “We’re very disappointed. We were shown our limits tonight. The coach gave us a plan but it did not work out for us. We lost the game already in the first half and were always a step too late.”
Swiss boss Murat Yakin admitted that he was caught by surprise by Portugal: “We must accept this defeat and congratulate Portugal. They were the best team this evening. They surprised us.”
“We lost a game today but that doesn’t mean we have to be too pessimistic and criticize everything. The team has shown great team spirit. But this defeat hurts. The score and the manner of the loss sadden me,” he told reporters after the match.
Heading into this round of 16 match against Portugal, Switzerland was on the mission to break their drought and reach the last eight for the first time since 1954. Yakin said that his team should be proud and take pride in their journey in Qatar and this would be the beginning to move forward.
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