Portugal-Switzerland : Cruising Ride Into Quarters For Portugal

No Ronaldo, No problem! The Portuguese captain was just a second half substitute as Portugal eased past Switzerland last night in the final round of 16 fixture to reach the quarterfinals. A Goncalo Ramos hat trick (17’, 51’, 67’) either side of Pepe’s thumping header as well as a Guereiro strike (56’) and Rafael Leao (90+2’) strike sealed the victory for the Portuguese who march on to the quarterfinal.
All the pre-match talk was focused around Cristiano Ronaldo’s tantrums in the previous game as head coach Fernando Santos voiced his discontent at his actions after the striker left the stadium early following his substitution. Fernando Santos thus sent a strong message by benching his captain for Goncalo Ramos and the 21-year-old striker justified his manager’s choice by firing Portugal into the lead after 17 minutes. The flood gates were then opened as Portugal soon doubled their lead 33 minutes into the game when 39-year-old defender rose high to tower in a header past Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer. The intensity did not drop in the second half with the relentless Portugal adding a third through Goncalo Ramos (51’). Five minutes later, Raphael Guereiro (56’) concluded ...