Portugal coach Fernando Santos admitted on Friday that Cristiano Ronaldo had been unhappy to be dropped to the bench as he pleaded for a line to be drawn under the affair, IgbereTV reports
The veteran striker was a substitute for the first time at a World Cup since 2006 for his side’s last-16 match against Switzerland, which they won 6-1.
A report in Portuguese newspaper Record said Ronaldo had threatened to quit the squad after he was told he was not in the starting line-up.
The Portuguese football federation denied the report and Ronaldo himself took to social media to state that the squad was “too united to be broken by outside forces”.
Santos, speaking on the eve of Portugal’s quarter-final against Morocco, said he had spoken to Ronaldo on the day of the game against Switzerland
