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No time to waste ! At just 21 years old and with three short selections as his only international experience, Gonçalo Ramos, preferred to Cristiano Ronaldo at kick-off, had a thunderous first start on Tuesday with Portugal, scoring a hat-trick against Switzerland (6 -1) in the 1/8 finals of the World Cup-2022.
“A dream first,” wrote the young Benfica striker on Instagram three weeks ago. For his very first selection, a few days before the start of the World Cup in Qatar, he had just scored a goal and given an assist in less than 25 minutes against Nigeria (4-0).
In Qatar, he had added to his international baggage two brief appearances against Uruguay and Ghana – ten minutes in all -, before the huge surprise on Tuesday: to face Switzerland, Fernando Santos chose to start him rather than Cristiano Ronaldo, punished for his bad mood and his disappointing performances.
Half an hour of play in all and for all and three caps to replace a legend, 194 caps, 118 goals for Seleçao, five Ballons d’Or… Impressed, Gonçalo Ramos? Not really…
Because at the thunderclap of his tenure, the great center forward (1.86m) responded with three flashes of class, three of the six goals of the masterpiece achieved by Portugal against Switzerland.
“He is an attacker who works a lot, who runs a lot, who helps the team a lot defensively, praised his teammate Bruno Fernandes, he is the type of attacker who is everywhere. Today he had the chances to score three goals, but he’s probably more of an attacker who participates in the construction, who creates spaces for others, who participates in the game, he fights, he is strong”.
From the 17th minute, Ramos opened the scoring with an exceptional, violent left shot from under the bar, after a good serve from Joao Felix. Just after the break, he then widened the Portuguese advantage (3-0) by taking over from the left a cross from Diogo Dalot, for a double celebrated like a nice gunslinger, mimicking revolvers with his fingers.
Monitoring by PSG
Three minutes later, he offered a very fair decisive pass to Guerreiro (4-0, 55th) and finally completed his fantastic evening in the 67th minute with a new goal, the third for him, with a subtle dive from the right (5-1, 67th).
A quarter from the end, after three goals and an assist, it was time to go out and give way and light to Ronaldo, who congratulated him without excess. For his first tenure with Portugal, the young debutant had just achieved three times what the legend has been chasing for five World Cups: to score in a knockout World Cup match.
“Cristiano is a reference for all of us, he leads the team, but we have other players like Bruno Fernandes or Pepe who are also able to command and help Cristiano”, Ramos had also declared after the match against in Ghana, during which it was he who replaced CR7.
His arrival in selection alongside Ronaldo, Joao Felix or Bernardo Silva, Gonçalo Ramos owes it to a more than successful start to the season with Benfica which, according to L’Equipe, even earned him the concrete interest of Paris SG and its Portuguese sports adviser Luis Campos.
With the Lisbon club, he has indeed scored nine goals and given three assists in the league, with also a goal and an assist in a raised Champions League group, in which Benfica finished ahead of … PSG , Juventus and Maccabi Haifa.
Portugal, Europe and now the world. Definitely Gonçalo Ramos has no time to lose.
“It’s normal for people to cheer for Cristiano Ronaldo,” says Bruno Fernandes
Bruno Fernandes (Portugal midfielder who beat Switzerland in the Round of 16.
“If people had never heard of Gonçalo (Ramos), it is because they are not aware of the quality of the Portuguese championship (…) We are very happy for him because to score a hat-trick at this age, it’s a real feat. »
(On the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo at kick-off): “We had won the first matches with Cristiano Ronaldo in the eleven. Cristiano is doing his job, he is contributing, he is happy with the result because everyone’s goal is to go as far as possible. I don’t think people should talk about why he plays or not, because when he plays and we win, nobody talks about it. When he plays and we lose, everyone talks about it. »
(On the clamor in the stadium): “It’s normal that people come to the stadium to see Ronaldo, he is the most famous player in all history or even in sport. It’s normal for people to cheer him on, I don’t see what’s surprising about that. »
On the quarter-final against Morocco): “It will be a difficult match, Morocco and a good team which finished first in its group. We are aware of his qualities. The most important thing will be to do our job and focus on what we have to do to pass. »
