Portugal manager says 'leave Cristiano Ronaldo alone' ahead of Morocco World Cup clash

Santos attempts to shift focus onto quarter-final match and away from veteran attacker

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes celebrate after their 2-0 win in the World Cup Group H game against Uruguay at Lusail Stadium on November 28, 2022. Reuters

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo scores the opening goal against Uruguay - it was later awarded to Bruno Fernandes. AFP

Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal celebrates after scoring the opener. The goal was later awarded to Bruno Fernandes. EPA

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates the opener. AFP

Portugal's Bruno Fernandes scores their second goal from the penalty spot. AFP

Portugal's Bruno Fernandes celebrates scoring their second goal. AFP

Portugal's Bruno Fernandes scores the second from the penalty spot. AFP

Uruguay's Jose Gimenez, right, argues with referee Alireza Faghani after a penalty was awarded against him for hand ball. AP

Jose Gimenez of Uruguay touches the ball with his hand as he tries to make a block. The referee awarded a penalty to Portugal. Getty

Uruguay's defender Guillermo Varela fights for the ball with Portugal's Rafael Leao. AFP

Uruguay's Edinson Cavani Luis Suarez look dejected after losing to Portugal. AFP

Portugal manager Fernando Santos says it is “high time to leave Cristiano Ronaldo alone”, as the coach tries to focus solely on his side's World Cup quarter-final with Morocco on Saturday.

Ronaldo, the Portugal captain, was left out of the starting line-up for Tuesday's last-16 clash with Switzerland, which the 2016 European champions went on to win 6-1. Ronaldo was brought into the action as a second-half substitute, and later had a goal disallowed for offside.

The all-time leading goalscorer in men's international football, Ronaldo then disputed claims in the Portuguese press that he wanted to quit the World Cup after being dropped.

On Thursday, he said in a statement on social media that the squad is “too strong to be broken by outside forces”, with the Portuguese football federation also denial reports of a bust-up.

Ronaldo, 37, is without a club having left Manchester United last month by mutual consent.

Speaking on Friday ahead of their last-eight clash with Morocco, Santos sought to explain how he informed Ronaldo before the Switzerland match that he would not be included in the line-up.

“I spoke to him after lunch on the day of the game and invited him into my office,” Santos said." For obvious reasons Cristano 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.

Portugal 6 Switzerland 1: Player ratings

PORTUGAL RATINGS: Diogo Costa - 6. Got a touch on Xherdan Shaqiri’s free-kick to make sure it didn’t go in, then saved Remo Freuler’s header after unconvincingly stopping Edimilson Fernandes’ cross. Had no chance of stopping the Swiss goal, while his long ball forward started the move for Portugal’s fifth. AP

Diogo Dalot - 9. Was authoritative in his defending throughout the game to ensure Ruben Vargas didn’t get any joy. Cleared the ball off the line after Costa saved Freuler’s header, and then beat Vargas to deliver the cross for Goncalo Ramos’ second. Noah Okafor didn’t fare much better against him. EPA

Pepe - 9. Showed complete dominance to score his goal and that translated to the rest of the defender’s play. He made some brilliant passes and often defended on the front foot to quickly nullify Swiss attacks. AP

Ruben Dias - 7. Got away with a poor touch on the edge of his own box but gave Breel Embolo a real battle. Won a header in the opposition box but couldn’t get enough on it to work Yann Sommer. Getty

Raphael Guerreiro - 8. Came up with a couple of wonderful touches and passes, although the left-back fired a shot harmlessly off target. Did much better when he got into the box in the second half, giving Sommer no chance. AP

Bernardo Silva - 8. Broke into the box but couldn’t find the final pass, although he continued to put himself in great positions and show quality throughout. Made a good run forward in the build-up to Ramos’ hat-trick goal. Getty

William Carvalho - 7. Was a calm presence in the middle of the pitch, winning the ball back when required and moving it brilliantly. Some of his passes in the first half were particularly eye-catching, including one he clipped for Guerreiro to run on to. Played some sloppy passes in the second half and was eased off the ball by Embolo. EPA

Otavio - 8. Did a great job to move the ball from a deep midfield position, although he shot straight at Yann Sommer when a half-chance came. Provided a lovely backheel in the build-up to Portugal’s fourth. AP

Bruno Fernandes - 9. Played with freedom, playing a whole host of brilliant passes including the corner delivery for Pepe’s goal and a through ball for Goncalo Ramos. Came within inches of reaching Guerreiro’s cross. Reuters

Goncalo Ramos - 10. Blasted Portugal into the lead with a brilliant finish in his first tournament start, then added a second goal after half time. Set up Guerreiro for Portugal’s fourth, although his attempt at a defensive header also set up Manuel Akanji before he scored with a beautifully dinked effort for his hat-trick. EPA

Joao Felix - 9. Took up brilliant positions and showed the quality to exploit them, notably slipping the ball through for Ramos’ opener. There were more superb moments in his fearless performance including a run through the middle that helped lead to Portugal’s fourth. He then slid the ball to Ramos again for the striker’s hat-trick goal. AP

SUBS: Cristiano Ronaldo (Ramos, 73’) – N/R. Fired a free-kick attempt into the wall before hitting the back of the net for a goal that was pulled back for offside. PA

Ricardo Horta (Felix, 74’) – N/R. Got some nice touches in as Portugal put on a show. AFP

Vitinha (Otavio, 74’) – N/R. Moved the ball nicely, although one stray pass started a decent Swiss move. His corner delivery was an inviting one. AP

Ruben Neves (Silva, 81’) – N/R. Moved the ball well and cut out a potentially threatening ball through. AP

Rafael Leao (Fernandes, 87’) – N/R. Played a poor cross with Ronaldo waiting in the box but showed his quality by cutting inside Granit Xhaka and curling a wonderful effort past Sommer. Getty

SWITZERLAND RATINGS: Yann Sommer - 4. Had a horrible night conceding six, although there wasn’t too much he could do about most of the goals. Made a great save to deny Ramos one goal. AP

Edimilson Fernandes - 3. He was very weak defensively, especially in the first half, giving Felix too much space in the build-up to the first goal and doing nothing to stop Pepe for the second. Delivered some promising crosses. AP

Manuel Akanji - 5. Was beaten far too easily in the air by Pepe for the second and was helpless as the Swiss defence descended into calamity. Scored a consolation goal after sneaking in at the back post. Getty

Fabian Schar - 3. Stood off Ramos for the opener and was very weak in his defending for the second. A poor overall performance also saw him get booked for a late challenge on Felix before being taken off at half time. Getty

Ricardo Rodriguez - 4. Showed great anticipation to clear Silva’s pass but that largely deserted Rodriguez and his fellow defenders for the rest of the game. Put in a couple of decent crosses. AFP

Remo Freuler - 4. Saw his header saved and struggled to keep up, hitting Pepe with some late challenges in an underwhelming performance. AP

Granit Xhaka - 4. Did absolutely nothing to put Felix under pressure for the opener and seemed to be going through the motions at times. Headed comfortably off target from a promising position and got away with a mix-up with Denis Zakaria. Getty

Xherdan Shaqiri - 5. Was toothless in a challenge with Dias on the edge of Portugal’s box and hit a shocking effort that went high and wide, summarising Switzerland’s game. Showed quality with his set-pieces, forcing Costa into an uncomfortable save and delivering the corner that resulted in Akanji’s goal. Reuters

Djibril Sow - 4. Had some nice moments, including a flick for Fernandes’ cross, but was still very quiet. AFP

Ruben Vargas - 4. Was easily beaten by Dalot for Portugal’s third having largely been bullied by the defender at the other end of the pitch. Getty

Breel Embolo - 6. One of the very few Swiss players who could leave this match with their head held high, having given Dias a real battle for large periods. Came close with an acrobatic effort. AP

SUBS: Eray Comert (Schar, HT) - 5. Was very inconsistent as he had some poor moments, although he also stopped a dangerous ball through to Ronaldo and made a great burst forward. Booked for catching Fernandes with an outstretched arm. Getty

Haris Seferovic (Freuler, 54’) - 4. Had a very minimal impact on the game with Portugal dominating at the other end. Reuters

Denis Zakaria (Sow, 55’) - 5. Was held off the ball by Carvalho after making a good run, while he saw a shot blocked. Getty

Noah Okafor (Vargas, 66’) - 5. Lost the ball in the middle of the pitch then found himself chasing shadows. Had some mildly bright moments but his shot attempt was quashed by Fernandes. AP

Ardon Jashari (Embolo, 89’) – N/R. Got on for a World Cup game but there was no chance of him having a notable impact as the game had long gone. Getty

“We had a frank and normal conversation.”

Santos later added: "I think it’s high time to leave Ronaldo alone. He has never told me that he wanted to leave our national team and I think it’s high time we stopped with this conversation, that we stop with the polemics.”

Sitting alongside his manager on Friday, forward Joao Felix was also drawn on the media coverage surrounding Ronaldo.

“I would like to leave a message to the Portuguese people and to the press,” he said." Portugal is in a great competition. We haven’t reached the quarter-finals for a long time. We should all be closer together and not try to get the atmosphere worse.”

Portugal take on Morocco at Al Thumama Stadium on Saturday, with the winner going on to meet either France or England in next week's semi-finals.