“He came in when it was necessary”: DT of Portugal does not regret replacing Cristiano Ronaldo

As against Switzerland, Cristiano Ronaldo was again a substitute in Portugal, in the match this Saturday against Morocco, for the quarterfinals of the Qatar 2022 World Cup. After the defeat (1-0) and elimination of the Portuguese, coach Fernando Santos said not to be sorry for not having started ‘CR7′ and denied that what happened recently around the crack had an influence.

“I think it had no impact. The whole team was very united. Probably Cristiano and I are the two saddest people about the elimination.”Santos confessed at the press conference after the match held at the Al Thumama Stadium.

“I do not regret. The team did very well in the game against Switzerland. Cristiano Ronaldo is a huge player. He came in when we understood that it was really necessary. I don’t have those regrets.” stressed the 68-year-old coach.

Likewise, Fernando Santos was hurt by the elimination. “It hurts the same (having lost to Morocco), leaving the World Cup always hurts”he pointed.

“In the first half, we felt a lot of difficulty, it took us a while to get into the game. The players wanted to, but they couldn’t. There was always a lot of will, confidence, but they could not achieve it. We had some situations, but we didn’t get it. The players worked a lot.”he added.

“In the second half we improved the game, we wanted to have more mobility and help the players to pass through the defense. We created four or five situations, but we didn’t score. Sometimes you have to be a bit lucky and today we weren’t.”added the Portuguese coach.

Regarding his future, Fernando Santos stated that “when I return to Portugal we will talk (with the president of the Federation, Fernando Gomes) about the best for Portugal “.