Goncalo Ramos made the most of his maiden World Cup start for Portugal after netting a hat-trick in their 6-1 thrashing of Switzerland to send them comfortably through to the tournament’s quarter-finals on Tuesday.
Ramos’ start came under a cloud of controversy after head coach Fernando Santos promoted the young striker to the starting 11 demoting Captain Cristiano Ronaldo to the bench presumably due to disciplinary reasons.
Santos expressed his displeasure with Ronaldo’s attitude after being subbed off in their game against South Korea.
However, Ramos who had previously only played 34 minutes in his senior international career, which came as a substitute during the group stages, made the most of the golden moment.
The 21-year-old took only 17 minutes to repay the coach’s decision after opening the scoring for the former European champions.
The Benfica striker added two more to his tally in the second half as he netted their third and fifth goals in the 51st and 67th minutes to complete his first international hattrick and consolidate their win, following goals from game-day skipper Pepe, Rafale Leo, and Raphael Guerriero.
While Ronaldo failed to score after being brought on later in the game it’s highly doubtful that he would be disappointed in the final result which was a return to the last eight.
The win was the widest margin of a win by any team in the round and sets up a strong precedent for the former Nations league champions going into the next round.
They will face Morocco in their quarter-final game set for Friday morning.
