World Cup, Portugal-Switzerland 6-1: Gonçalo Ramos hat-trick. CR7 enters 20′ from the end

There is a new sheriff in town, with smoking guns, and so Cristiano Ronaldo is no longer missing even in Portugal. The best game of Fernando Santos’ national team in this World Cup, both in terms of scoring and for the game expressed, is the one in which he remains on the bench for 73 minutes. And it may not be a coincidence. Meanwhile, the whole country, and not just Lisbon as usually happens, can rejoice at goals from Gonçalo Ramos who replaced him up front, launching his national team into the quarter-finals. It’s unlikely that a striker who scores once every 89 minutes in the league with Benfica will be disappointed, but a hat-trick on his debut as a starter in this tournament isn’t for everyone.

On the other hand, Switzerland has practically never received it. Spent forward and completely unglued between the departments, she is constantly slipped between the lines by Portuguese playmakers, especially Joao Felix. Thus Ramos can feast in the penalty area, proving to be precise even in serving his teammates, as happens on the occasion of the fourth goal.

THE MATCH

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Fernando Santos had not liked Cristiano Ronaldo’s reaction at the time of the change in the match against South Korea. The resentment of the technical commissioner translates into the sensational exclusion of CR7 from the starting eleven, with Gonçalo Ramos taking his place. The other relevant change concerns the choice of Dalot, preferred to Cancelo to complete the defense line. Yakin responds with the same formation that beat Serbia by winning the right to play this match, with Embolo leading the forward department supported by Shaqiri and Vargas. The initial phases are quite lively, both teams immediately identify the favorable spaces in which to develop the offensive plot and pass dangerously into the opposing area. Accomplice, from this point of view, Santos’ directive: not to make a frantic pressing, but to keep one man on the two central defenses and Xhaka, to direct the maneuver towards the outside. However, the match plans soon fell apart, because after only 17 minutes the strong position taken by the Portuguese coach paid the desired dividends: Joao Felix received from a lineout and gave in to Ramos in the center of the box; the Benfica striker turns and lets loose a bombastic left foot that slips under the crossbar, Sommer remains motionless. Switzerland struggles to regroup immediately and Portugal could take advantage of it, but the shots of Otavio (22′) and Ramos (23′) from the edge of the area are choked and easy to neutralize. In any case, the idea of ​​giving a lot of freedom to Joao Felix and Bernardo Silva works, as they often drop down during construction to create superiority in midfield. Shaqiri tries to shake things up with a tricky free kick that Diogo Costa sends for a corner, even on set pieces but the Portuguese are preferred. In fact, in the 33rd minute Pepe took advantage of a soft zonal marking on a corner taken from the right and stood undisturbed for the second goal. Freuler worries the defense with a header that passes Diogo Costa but not Dalot a few steps from the line, Ramos replies – inspired by Bruno Fernandes’s through ball – going close to knocking out in the 43rd minute with a diagonal thwarted by an amazing Sommer in halftime closure.

SECOND HALF

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Upon returning from the locker room, Comert is the only new face: Yakin inserts him for Schar, bruised and booked, as well as not very effective in opposing Ramos on the first goal. By changing the central unit, however, the outcome does not change. In the 51st minute Dalot breaks through to the right, suggests at the near post and Ramos is very quick to burn the Valencia defender. Four minutes later, Portugal scored again. A splendid choral action, enhanced by Otavio’s heel at the start and Joao Felix’s break, is finished off by Ramos who sends Guerreiro into goal, cold to lift the ball in front of Sommer. Switzerland closes in the 58th minute with Akanji, good at reading the trajectory of a cross from the flag fouled by the Portuguese center forward himself and supporting the net. The gap goes back to four goals in the 67th minute, in an action that highlights their respective merits and demerits. In fact, a few touches are enough, starting from Diogo Costa, to get to the goal. Joao Felix puts Ramos in front of Sommer, the touch below is the icing of an evening to be framed. Santos sends Cristiano Ronaldo onto the field, always appearing serene and smiling, only in the 73rd minute; Pepe, to show him the support of the locker room, hastens to give him the captain’s armband. In recovery, joy also for Leao, who entered shortly before: he returns to the top of the area and shoots around the far post, rounding the score up to 6-1. CR7 seeks personal glory, but all you see is a free-kick rejected by the barrier and a goal disallowed for clear offside. After all, at least for this time, he is not the national hero.