Even when Cristiano Ronaldo is not around, he is the center of attention. This is the elephant in the room.
During the Portugal national team's press conference on the eve of the quarter-final match against Morocco on Saturday, there was a lot of talk about the legendary striker.
This has been a matter of controversy since coach Fernando Santos chose to leave him on the bench in the round of 16.
Since the Portuguese defeated Switzerland 6 to 1 and Ronaldo did not participate in the scoring after the 74th minute, the Portuguese press is exaggerating the matter.
Leave him alone
Santos explained in detail how he made his decision, and in particular how he announced it to the 37-year-old veteran. He stressed that great importance was attached to the situation.
“In the press conference, 90% of the questions are about him,” Santos insisted. But whether or not you talk to him before the game or on game day, what does it matter?
For several days, we have not stopped hearing about the possibility of Ronaldo leaving Qatar early, which will make him feel frustrated by the situation that angered Santos.
He added: “He never told me that he wanted to leave our national team, and I think it is time to stop this controversy.” During this match, he took the warm-up initiative and celebrated all the goals. He was even the one who called on his teammates to thank the fans. “You should leave him alone.”
Better without Ronaldo
Moroccan coach Walid Regragui also entered into the controversy when he was asked whether he would prefer to face Portugal with or without Ronaldo.
“It will be a difficult match, they have quality everywhere. Will Ronaldo play? As a coach, I hope he does not play because he is one of the best players in history.”
If he said that, he knows very well that his team is starting to accumulate fatigue despite its good performance.
“We played a lot of great players from the start, and we released a lot of energy. We played against Croatia, Belgium, Canada, one of the best teams in North America, and Spain, the team that makes you run more.
“As the matches progress, the difficulty becomes greater. They are one of the best teams in the world. We will try to surprise again because no one expected us to arrive in this quarter.”
Doesn't catch fire
This will be the third confrontation in history between the two countries, which shared the title in the first two matches. In 1986, Morocco defeated Portugal in the last match in the group stage, thus qualifying for the final stage, for the first and only time in its history.
In addition, Morocco, only the fourth African country to reach the quarter-finals, could become the first African country to play in the semi-finals if it beats Portugal.
“We must not be overzealous,” Regragui warned. We performed well against Spain. Can we do it again in four days? This is the challenge I give to the players.
As Regragui said, no one expected his team to reach the quarter-finals. However, he is choosing to keep his feet firmly on the ground as Morocco, Africa and the Arab world line up behind his team.
“I haven't been up on the cloud yet,” he said. We are trying to change the mentality. This is what happens abroad, but we are in competition. “We can still do more and better.”
“The moment people think that, we will become difficult to beat. At the moment, we have just managed to frustrate some statistics from universities that were enjoying the predictions. We are here to upset all that. The players are hungry and they do not think they are satisfied with being in the quarter-finals. “
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