Just In: Portugal hammered Switzerland by 5-1 in the Last 16 clash on Tuesday Night, with Cristiano Ronaldo’s replacement Goncalo Ramos bagging three goals. With this historic triumph, Fernando Santos’ side will march into the Quarter Finals of the FIFA World Cup.
Even though it was a tough call from Santos to bring Ramos into the starting line-up, the Benfica star hardly took 17 minutes off the starting whistle to restore the manager’s trust. Ramos was passed the ball inside his box, where he rolled around the Swiss defender and fired past the goalkeeper at a perfect netting angle.
The Portuguese skipper Pepe then flew above all to take on a Bruno Fernandes corner, scoring the second goal with a powerful header in the 33rd minute. This goal also marks Pepe as the oldest player (39y 283d) to score at the World Cup since Roger Mila in 1994.
Ramos increased his goal total to two in the 51st minute of play and added a third in the final seconds to give his side a hat-trick. Notably, the Swiss team scored only one goal, which came from defender Manuel Akanji in the 58th minute of the game.
It is pertinent to mention that Ronaldo was benched by Portugal’s manager Santos against Switzerland, marking the first time since 2008 that Portugal had done so in a significant international competition.
