Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t train with Portugal’s other substitutes on Wednesday, following their World Cup win over Switzerland the previous day.
There was surprise on Tuesday evening when Fernando Santos finally did what needed to be done and dropped Ronaldo from his starting lineup.
It certainly did cause surprise to see the national team line up in a World Cup knockout game without the five time Ballon d’Or winner.
That decision came following Santos revealing he wasn’t happy with the forward’s reaction to be subbed off against South Korea in the previous game.
Whether it was form or behaviour that ultimately led Santos to dropping the forward, who doesn’t have a club after his previous bad behaviour, it certainly ended up being the correct decision.
The striker’s replacement Goncalo Ramos enjoyed a World Cup debut to remember, as he bagged a hat-trick in the team’s 6-1 thrashing of Switzerland.
Ronaldo didn’t have to sit on the bench the entire game and actually agreed to be brought on as a substitute, which he wasn’t keen on when at Manchester United, replacing Joao Felix in the 73rd minute, with his side already 5-1 ahead.
Having played just 17 minutes of the game, the 37-year-old would have been expected to train on Wednesday with the rest of the squad who didn’t play, and fellow substitutes.
However, according to Marca, there was a surprise amongst the squad when he didn’t appear at training, instead choosing to do gym work, along with those who started, despite not having an injury.
Ronaldo had started in the previous 31 fixtures for his national team in major tournaments, stretching back to the Euro 2008 game against Switzerland.