Goncalo Ramos Scores a Hat Trick As Portugal Beat Swiss To Reach World Cup Quarterfinals The 21-year-old Ramos started in place of Cristiano Ronaldo and became the youngest player since Pele in 1958 to score three goals in a World Cup knockout match.
Goncalo Ramos proved that he wasn’t going to drop Cristiano Ronaldo by scoring a hat trick in his full debut as Portugal defeated Switzerland 6-1 on Tuesday to advance to the World Cup quarterfinals.
Ramos, 21, started in place of Ronaldo and became the youngest player since Pele in 1958 to score three goals in a World Cup knockout match.
For a rampant Portugal, Pepe, Raphael Guerreiro, and Rafael Leao were also on target. Portugal will play Morocco on Saturday for a spot in the last four in Qatar. Ronaldo, who is 37 years old and no longer plays for a team because he left Manchester United, has made headlines throughout the tournament while appearing to be a shadow of his former self.
Watch Here: What Said Goncalo Ramos After the match?
Coach Fernando Santos left Ronaldo out of the match against Switzerland because of his furious response to being substituted in the group’s final game. Ronaldo has only scored at five World Cups.
Leaving out a player with a record 118 international goals in favor of giving Benfica striker Ramos, who had only played 33 minutes in three previous appearances, a full debut was a bold move.
However, Ramos scored in a World Cup knockout game—something Ronaldo has never done—in just 17 minutes to repay Santos’ faith.
Ramos was delicately clipped in the feet by Joao Felix, who quickly swung past Fabian Schaer and rifled the ball into the net’s roof past a stunned Yann Sommer.
Otavio, who played in the Portugal midfield after suffering an injury in their first match, shot straight at Sommer, and Ramos followed suit a short time later.
Diogo Costa saved a dipping free kick from Xherdan Shaqiri from a distance, but Portugal soon scored their second goal.
How Goncalo Ramos Scored Hat-Trick Watch Here
Pepe, who is 39 years old, towering over the Swiss defense to powerfully head home after Bruno Fernandes whipped in a corner.
After Diogo Costa failed to properly handle a cross, Remo Freuler’s header was hacked off the line by Diogo Dalot, but the Swiss simply had no options against an unstoppable Portugal.
Six minutes into the second half, Ramos converted a cross from Dalot down the right from close range.
The Swiss defense was brutally torn apart four minutes later when he turned provider by playing Guerreiro in to score another.
As Manuel Akanji, a Manchester City center-back, pulled one back for Switzerland, Ramos also accidentally glanced a corner in his direction.
After more outstanding work from Felix, Ramos completed his treble by casually drinking Sommer with one of his final touches before Ronaldo was brought in.
The five-time Ballon d’Or champ’s presented evoked the greatest thunder of the evening. Although Ronaldo actually had the ball in the back of the net, it was disallowed due to obvious offside.
With a fantastic curling goal in extra time, Leao finished off a fantastic Portugal performance.