Fernando Santos has revealed he has not spoken to Cristiano Ronaldo since the end of the 2022 World Cup, during which the Portugal captain was dropped. The two worked together in the national team setup for eight years and won the Euros together in 2016 but the tournament in Qatar ended with Ronaldo on the bench and Morocco knocking out Portugal in the quarter-finals.
Santos, who recently left Poland after a poor start to their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, says he would not change anything he did during the World Cup. “We don’t talk since … I don’t know which day, but since we came back from Qatar,” Santos told A Bola.
“I had a very strong relationship with Cristiano. Personal and professional. We met at Sporting when he was 19 and that relationship was strengthened from the moment we joined up with the national team. We always got along very well. The expression is a little strong, but almost like father and son, or younger brother and older brother.
“However, I made a tactical decision in Qatar and for that you need to understand a little bit about the background. I have already said that he is the best in the world but at that moment it was very difficult for him. In the second half of 2022 he had six months that were terrible, even from a personal point of view. He wasn’t part of pre-season at United and even when he returned to the squad he was barely used.”
Ronaldo started Portugal’s three group games but despite scoring in the opening win against Ghana, he was lacking match fitness. “Physically he was at the top of his game, he always is,” Santos said. “No one takes better care of their body than Cristiano. If we were to do tests, he would be at the top. If he were to do a sprint against another player, or an endurance test, he would probably win. But he lacked rhythm. We tried playing him in the games before the World Cup and then in the first games of the tournament to get him into the rhythm.”
Things came to a head after Ronaldo was substituted in the defeat against South Korea, putting his finger to his lips as he left the pitch. Santos said the next day: “Have I seen the images? Yes, I didn’t like it, not at all. I didn’t like it. I really didn’t like it. But from that moment onwards everything is finished regarding that issue. These matters are resolved behind closed doors.”
Ronaldo then started the next two games on the bench, including the quarter-final defeat against Morocco. “Today I would make the same decision,” Santos said. “It was a tactical decision. Me and my team discussed it and thought it was the right decision. It wasn’t an easy decision but the right decision. But I was always convinced that he could come on and change the game.”
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Against Morocco, a game Portugal lost 1-0, Ronaldo came off the bench in the 51st minute but was unable to turn the game around. He is still playing for Portugal, however, and has started seven out of their eight Euro 2024 qualifiers under the new manager, Roberto Martínez, missing only the win against Luxembourg, when he was suspended.