Cristiano Ronaldo defended by Roy Keane as Portugal await Morocco test

World Cup briefing: Quarter-final preview

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Roy Keane has again jumped to the defence of Cristiano Ronaldo after the 37-year-old stormed down the tunnel after Portugal’s win over Switzerland at the World Cup earlier this week. Ronaldo was named on the substitutes’ bench by Fernando Santos and was introduced in the second half but failed to score or assist, although he did manage to find the back of the net before his goal was disallowed for offside.

Ronaldo went on to cut a frustrated figure after the full-time whistle as he walked straight down the tunnel instead of joining the celebrations with the rest of his Portugal team-mates, with his actions earning plenty of post-match criticism from fans and pundits alike. However, Keane has since insisted that Ronaldo has had an attitude throughout his whole career before rubbishing claims that his presence makes teams worse by pointing to Juventus as a prime example.

“Are footballers supposed to be perfect? Cristiano Ronaldo had this attitude 10 years ago, but the following game he would score a hat trick, and he was 27, everyone would forgive him,” Keane told Sky Bet.

“People say that he makes teams worse. Juventus haven’t done anything since he left them a couple of years ago. Against Switzerland, the Portugal manager made a correct decision to replace Ronaldo with someone who offered more mobility up front.

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“He [Goncalo Ramos] scores a hat trick, and everyone looks straight to Ronaldo. I always thought there could be a chance that Ronaldo wouldn’t start a World Cup knockout game for Portugal. He’s 37!”

It remains to be seen whether Ronaldo will return to Portugal’s starting line-up against Morocco on Saturday, although it seems likely that Ramos will be given the nod once again after his imperious showing against Switzerland. Recent reports have claimed that Ronaldo threatened to walk away from the World Cup after being benched last time around, although Santos quickly moved to deny that such an incident took place when quizzed on the matter in Friday’s press conference.

“He has never told me that he wanted to leave our national team,” said the Portugal boss. “It’s high time we stop with this conversation, stop the controversies.

“It’s high time for you to leave Ronaldo alone, in acknowledgement for what he’s done for Portuguese football. I spoke to him after lunch on the day of the game and invited him into my office. For obvious reasons Cristiano was not very happy about it as he has always been the starting player.

“He told me: ‘Do you really think it’s a good idea?’. But we had a normal conversation in which I explained my viewpoints and of course he accepted them. We had a frank and normal conversation.”

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