Portugal coach Fernando Santos said on Monday that he “didn’t like” Cristiano Ronaldo’s attitude when he was substituted in Friday’s match against South Korea in the final group stage of the World Cup in Qatar, AFP reported.

Fernando Santos “didn’t like” Cristiano Ronaldo’s attitude

In the 65th minute, Ronaldo made a controversial exit after being replaced by Andre Silva. Although he appeared to argue with his coach for being substituted so early, Ronaldo clarified that his gesture was aimed at the South Korean player.

“I responded after the match and I will do it again here. I don’t know anything about what happened on the field, I only saw that he fought with a Korean. I don’t want to talk about that anymore, I want to talk about tomorrow’s game.

But I saw the pictures and I didn’t like them at all. I didn’t like it at all. These stories need to be dealt with domestically, and this is what happened. The last point on this matter” – Fernando Santosat the press conference.

The fans don’t want Cristiano Ronaldo in the team anymore, but Fernando Santos won’t get their wish

Santos explained that he will not take into account the wishes of Portugal fans who said they want Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench for the match against Switzerland in the 2022 World Cup tour (poll conducted by daily A Bola).

“I did not discuss the transfer with him (nor with Ronaldo). I didn’t know about this offer from Saudi Arabia, I just found out about it. This is his decision. We are focused on the World Cup and the matches as well. I don’t know who will be the captain, I don’t even know who will play. We will decide tomorrow.

As for the poll (not 70% of Portuguese said they want Ronaldo on the bench), I don’t pay attention to that. I’m focused on my team, we only have three days of practice. I don’t look at the polls, I focus on the matches.

Portugal always wins. We are looking for that pressure. It is necessary to switch to high gear. It’s a knockout match, if we don’t win we go home” – Fernando Santos.

Portugal and Switzerland will meet on Tuesday, from 21:00, in the round of 16 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The match at the Lusail Stadium will be broadcast in the format LiveBLOG on HotNews.ro.