When Portugal convincingly defeated Switzerland 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the World Cup on Tuesday, two names were in the headlines.
A 37-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo the name was not a surprise, even though he did not play in the starting line-up. That was precisely the main reason for the headlines.
Read more: Cristiano Ronaldo found himself in a strange situation at the World Cup – the coach’s cold solution ignited the expert: “Massive performance”
The last time Ronaldo was on the sidelines was Portugal’s qualifying match at the European Championships in 2008. Even then, it was about resting the last group stage game. Since then, Ronaldo had started in 31 prestigious matches in a row.
The second name was a surprise: 21 years old Goncalo Ramos.
He got Ronaldo’s place at the top of Portugal and thanked in a way that he had never dreamed of. Ramos, who already received the command to the starting line-up as a huge surprise, scored a hat trick.
– Not even in my wildest dreams did I think I would be in the starting line-up in the playoffs, Ramos marveled at the press conference after the match.
Ramos was asked in front of the media about his role models.
– Cristiano Ronaldo was one, Lewandowski (Polish Robert Lewandowski) and Ibrahimovic (Swedish Zlatan Ibrahimovic), they are players who were my role models.
The tweet of the well-known statistics service Opta during the match even sounded like a fox in Ronaldo’s direction. Ramos opened the goal taps in the 17th minute of the match against Switzerland.
– Goncalo Ramos has scored more goals for Portugal in the World Cup playoffs after 17 minutes than Cristiano Ronaldo has in 514 minutes, Opta tweeted.
Ronaldo has never scored in a World Cup play-off. Lionel Messi too broke his “curse” only in this World Cup when he succeeded in the quarter-finals against Australia.
Before being assigned to the starting line-up, Ramos had played ten minutes in the World Cup when he got on the field in the final moments against Ghana and Uruguay.
The match was Ramos’ first in Portugal’s starting line-up and his fourth overall in the national team. He made his debut for the A national team in a practice game in Nigeria before the World Cup.
Look for a way out of Benfica already – now Ramos is dominating the Portuguese league
Ramos was born in Olhão, on the south coast of Portugal. Junior clubs were Olhanense and Loulé before Ramos moved to Benfica at the age of 12.
In 2019, Ramos won the under-19 European Championship as the top scorer when Portugal lost to Spain in the final.
Ramos still represents Benfica. He made his debut in the national team in a Portuguese league match in July 2020. The 2019–20 season was extended due to the corona pandemic.
After coming on the field from the substitution, Ramos scored two goals. So his stats for the 2019–20 league season were: one match, five minutes, two goals. Ramos is used to quickly leaving a big impression.
However, breaking into the national team was not straightforward. In the 2020–21 season, Ramos was able to play in only four league matches. A couple of goals were scored in a total of 90 minutes.
In the 2021–22 season, Ramos started well, but was soon left behind by the Ukrainian in Benfica’s attack Roman Jaremtshukin and Uruguayan By Darwin Nunez into the shadows.
That prompted Ramos to seek an exit from the club in the January 2022 transfer window. That’s when a big move happened in Benfica’s coaching, however, for Ramos. Jorge Jesus got the boot and became a temporary coach, familiar from Benfica’s reserves Nelson Verissimo. In the end, Ramos played in 29 games last season and scored seven goals.
For the current season, Nunez moved to Liverpool and Jaremtshuk to Bruges in Belgium. Now Ramos is playing his real breakthrough season in the Portuguese league as well. He has formed an effective offensive head duo brass by David Neres25, with.
Before the series ended in the World Cup break, Ramos had time to score nine goals in 11 matches. Ramos leads the goal exchange and Benfica by far leads the league, with 12 wins and a draw out of 13 matches.
Even in the Champions League, Benfica was under attack in the fall. The Portuguese won their group ahead of PSG and Juventus. Benfica’s unbeaten streak is 25 matches long.
“Shows Portugal that there is life after Ronaldo”
Benfica is now piloted by a German Roger Schmidtunder which Ramos has been seen as the top player in the 4-2-3-1 formation.
However, Ramos has received praise above all for his versatility. He can play on the wing or below the tip.
According to Eurosport (you will switch to another service) The 185-centimeter Ramos has even been compared to world stars because of his playing style and movement To Harry Kane, to Karim Benzema and to Thomas Müller. Ramos is a physical attacker who has enough skill to participate in the building phases of the game.
In addition, Ramos is a versatile, hard-kicking finisher who positions and handles the ball brilliantly in tight spaces in the box.
– Ramos’ rise to the highest level may have happened a little earlier than some expected, but it has seemed inevitable. He is one of those players who show Portugal that there is life after Ronaldo, in fact a lot, Eurosport’s story reflects.
Ramos also showed his versatility in finishing his hat trick. The first was a wild Jykevä left foot shot. The second one saw timely movement to the front post. Ramos finished the third with a small lift when he got into a fight with the goalkeeper.
Ramos himself has attributed his versatility to the fact that he has not always been a striker. The Athletic describes (you are moving to another service) based on the data, however, Ramos is above all a finisher – he knows how to get into places where the expectation of a goal is high. In the Portuguese league, his shots have gone less than eight meters from the goal on average.
After his feats in the Switzerland match, Ramos came on as a substitute in the 74th minute and Ronaldo got off. Before that, Ramos had created a personal goalscoring record a record in the playoffs (you switch to another service) 1.28 goals and shot six times, with 50 percent efficiency.
“Ronaldo is our leader”
Next, Portugal will face Morocco, who are playing a great tournament and have been knocked out by Spain. Did Ramos take Ronaldo’s last chances for a World Cup knockout goal?
Its Ramos and the head coach Fernando Santos naturally denied that Ronaldo’s dropping would have caused anger in the dressing room.
– Ronaldo talks to me and everyone in the team. He is our leader and always tries to help, Ramos said after the game.
– There are no problems with our captain. We’ve been friends for years. We talked before the game and he had no problem with my decision. He is exemplary, announced Santos.
Santos said dropping Ronaldo from the opener was purely strategic. The Portuguese midfield star and Ronaldo’s former ManU teammate Bruno Fernandes the praise for Ramos revealed a lot about this.
– That’s an easy question. Today he scored goals, but he is a player who runs a lot, works a lot, helps the team in defense. He is the kind of striker who is everywhere, Fernandes replied According to The Athletic (You will be transferred to another service) to the question of Ramos’ best qualities.
Fernandes, 28, has been involved in five hits (two goals, three assists) in the World Cup. The Portuguese in the World Cup arena have a similar performance I opt in (you switch to another service) were able to Eusebius and Jose Torres 1966.
For scoring Portugal’s second goal About Pepe39, became the oldest goalscorer in World Cup history (you will switch to another service) in the playoffs and second oldest overall Roger Millan after.
The Lusail Stadium erupted in wild cheers when Ronaldo was finally let off the hook. That didn’t surprise Fernandes either.
– He is the most famous athlete in the world. No one is more famous in sports than Cristiano, not just in football, but in sports. People come to watch Cristiano, I don’t see anything surprising about that.
As for Ramos, he has previously been linked in rumors to the likes of Brighton and Wolverhampton.
It’s no wonder that Manchester United and PSG have since joined the list. Benfica has set a €120 million buyout clause on a contract that runs until 2025.