Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal teammate Jose Fonte feels the national team plays more as a team without the 37-year-old forward while speaking of their 6-1 rout of Switzerland in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals.
Cristiano Ronaldo started from the bench in the game as his replacement Goncalo Ramos scored a memorable hat-trick to set the tone for the win.
Fonte, who couldn’t make the cut for the Portugal squad, felt the Fernando Santos-coached side was more fluid without their superstar striker.
“Portugal have the quality to do this in every game, but we have to be honest – just his presence on the field makes the players of the national team unconsciously and automatically have to play for him and always give him the ball, ” Fonte said.
“Being who he is, for what he has done and what he is still capable of doing.
“When he is not there, Portugal plays more as a team and that was seen (against Switzerland).
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“They played fluidly, without a single focal point, everyone contributed and it was beautiful to see,” he stated on a podcast, as quoted by A Bola.
“You cannot teach a legend like Ronaldo. Ronaldo will always be Ronaldo and for Portugal, it is even very positive to have a player like him come off the bench.
“It will be one more problem to cause the opponents. Fernando Santos brought a very strong mentality to the national team.
“The team has a great ability to defend together. And it will cause offensive problems in every game.
“I believe that Portugal will go to the end of the journey, the World Cup is the title we are missing. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for that to happen,” he added.
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