With Portugal manager Fernando Santos making the big decision to take Cristiano Ronaldo out of the starting line-up on Tuesday, the forward's reaction to that call has seemingly been revealed.
Prior to A Selecao's round of 16 clash against Switzerland on Tuesday night, Santos' decision to bench the former Manchester United star for Goncalo Ramos dominated the headlines.
Read: Ronaldo's big-money Middle East move off?
This decision came after the tactician revealed that he was not happy with Ronaldo's angry reaction to being substituted during their 2-1 defeat to South Korea last Friday.
With the attention thus being on the five-time Ballon d'Or winner's replacement Ramos against Switzerland, Portugal produced a dominant display with a final scoreline of 6-1, with the Benfica forward shining as he netted a hat-trick.
Ronaldo did eventually make his way on to the pitch in the 73rd minute in place of Joao Felix, but the veteran was unable to get on to the scoresheet.
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Following A Selecao's comfortable win, the free agent's frustrations appeared to come to the fore when he cut an isolated figure as he walked off the pitch following the full-time whistle, while his teammates were still celebrating the victory with their supporters.
Cristiano Ronaldo (left of picture) walks straight off while his teammates celebrate with fans. #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/W7jB6iGQOO
— Adriano Del Monte (@adriandelmonte) December 6, 2022
— Hotbird (@Davenbort) December 6, 2022
Santos had previously insisted in a pre-match press conference that Ronaldo's angry reaction to being substituted against South Korea had been dealt with "internally" and was "sorted out".
However, it appears the understanding between the pair may not be as clear as suggested, with Ronaldo seemingly unhappy with the manager's decision to take him out of the first XI against the Swiss, resulting in his lone walk straight to the changing room after the full-time whistle despite the team's triumph in the tie.
The Portugal boss later offered an explanation for the former Real Madrid superstar's omission from the starting line-up.
Read: Ronaldo 'demands' £17m from former club, gets lawyers involved
"Andre [Silva] who is a great player who plays more advanced, Cristiano is more fixed, he stays in a more determined area towards the box," Santos explained, per ESPN.
"Goncalo [Ramos] has different characteristics. He is very dynamic and the observations I made and that is what he ended up showing us.
"It is nothing new, he already came on in two matches, but I would say as Andre also played in a previous match, I have three players I fully trust.
"For each match I will use which player I see for my strategy.
"All the players on the bench can be used [in the quarter-final] against Morocco [even] if they are not in the starting XI."
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