Portugal vs. Switzerland: In the last 16 of the World Cup, Portugal defeated Switzerland 6-1 with their most significant performance.
Fernando Santos took the audacious choice to bench Cristiano Ronaldo for Tuesday’s match, and the Selecao’s assault was much more fluid.
Before the game’s first scoring opportunity, bored spectators at the enormous Lusail Stadium initiated a Mexican wave since there was nothing to report throughout the first 15 minutes.
Goncalo Ramos, playing in place of Ronaldo and having only played 35 minutes of international football previous to Tuesday night, was able to move away from Fabian Schar and find enough space to strike the ball with his weaker left foot, squeezing it past Yann Sommer’s near post.
Ramos almost set up Otavio with Portugal’s next opportunity, flicking the ball back to the Porto midfielder, but Sommer blocked his bobbling attempt.
Joao Felix’s deft pass over the top was met by Ramos, who again managed to get off a rapid shot, but this time it was much tamer and was easily handled by Sommer. Portugal was now playing with freedom and confidence, and Sommer could take Ramos’ second attempt.
Breel Embolo was making it difficult for the Selecao to maintain peace on the other end, as Ruben Dias thoroughly overpowered him in Portugal’s half. Diogo Costa deflected Xherdan Shaqiri’s following excellent 25-yard free-kick with a fingertip save.
Pepe, captaining the team in Ronaldo’s absence, scored on a Bruno Fernandes corner kick shortly after the half-hour mark to increase Portugal’s advantage to 2-0. After Roger Milla, the astute central defender became the second-oldest player to score in a World Cup.
Switzerland almost equalized when Diego Costa deflected Edimilson Fernandes’s cross, but only into Remo Freuler’s path. The Porto goalkeeper was lucky that Freuler’s following header was weak and quickly cleared.
Ramos could have added his second of the night when Fernandes sent through him, but Sommer’s extended arm denied him. While Portugal’s defensive performance was beginning to be questioned, their offense was humming.
And Ramos completed his hat-trick just after the break when he raced past the Switzerland defense to tap in a cross from Diogo Dalot, who did well to create a yard of space with a deft touch on the byline.
Moments afterward, Portugal scored their fourth goal. Felix carried the ball into the final third following Otavio’s deft pass and discovered Ramos’s run. Ramos kept his head up and located an open Raphael Guerreiro, who promptly shot the ball into the top corner of the goal.
Manuel Akanji scored a consolation goal by tapping in an Xherdan Shaqiri corner kick at the back post. Sergio Ramos ironically directed the ball past his Portugal colleagues at the near post.
Ramos completed the first hat trick of the 2022 World Cup by running past the final line and dinking the ball over Sommer after another sweeping attack.
After 73 minutes of pressure from the fans, Santos eventually brought Ronaldo into action, to the pleasure of the packed Lusail Stadium. His first move was a direct free-kick against the wall.
Ronaldo did manage to hit the back of the net, but his run was ludicrously offside, and the goal was instantly disallowed.
Rafael Leao came off the bench to score Portugal’s sixth goal rather than a substitute forward. The Milan star cut in from the left flank and snuck a shot between Akanji and Granit Xhaka, deceiving Sommer and hitting the far corner to round off the night.
Portugal player Ratings (4-2-3-1)
GK: Diogo Costa – 5/10 – Another performance with a few hiccups from Costa, but not need to make many saves.
RB: Diogo Dalot – 8/10 – Preferred over Joao Cancelo, the Manchester United right-back shut out Ruben Vargas and contributed an assist.
CB: Pepe – 8/10 – The oldest scorer in World Cup knockout stage history. He defended with the tenacity and aggressiveness that are his trademarks.
CB: Ruben Dias – 6/10 – Found it difficult to cope with Embolo’s physique and brains, but that was of little consequence.
LB: Raphael Guerreiro – 8/10 – Enjoyed heading ahead and was scarcely worried by Sow. Took his goal like a senior striker.
CM: William Carvalho – 8/10 – Bested the in-form Xhaka in their encounter.
Otavio, who came in place of Ruben Neves, performed well in midfield. His nimble feet and Carvalho’s vast experience proved to be a winning combination.
RM: Bernardo Silva – 7/10 – Flitted between the lines and sparked the counterattack to open up the game. On sometimes moved into a deeper midfield position.
AM: Bruno Fernandes – 9/10 – Like at the club level, Fernandes benefited from Ronaldo’s absence from his field of vision. He always led Portugal’s assaults and posed a direct or indirect danger.
LM: Joao Felix – 9/10 – On a day when Atletico Madrid’s club president indicated he might quit the club, Felix drew attention to himself with a magnificent left-wing creative effort.
CF: Goncalo Ramos – 10/10 – He silenced the skeptics who believed he shouldn’t have replaced Ronaldo so fast. His combination of physicality and skill victimized Switzerland. He has scored more hat-tricks in World Cup knockout matches than Ronaldo has goal assists.
Manager: Fernando Santos – 9/10 – The bold decision to dismiss Ronaldo (finally) proved profitable.
Switzerland players Ratings (4-2-3-1)
GK: Yann Sommer – 4/10 – Numerous goals were unavoidable despite a few excellent saves, thus every silver lining…
RB: Edimilson Fernandes – 4/10 – He attempted to wear out Felix and was one of Switzerland’s finest attacking players.
CB: Manuel Akanji – 3/10 – He retreated from the limelight and was given the runaround. Fortunately, who scored a goal?
Fabian Schar, central defender – 2/10 – If Akanji was given the runaround, then Schar was sent back to Newcastle on club duty. Weak in both the air and the ground. I hooked at the midpoint.
LB: Ricardo Rodriguez – 4/10 – Rodriguez made several crucial interceptions, but it is evident that age is catching up with him.
CM: Remo Freuler – 3/10 – Switzerland may have had a chance if he had converted his golden opportunity when the score was just 2-0. who quickly replaced him in the second half.
Granit Xhaka, a central midfielder, received a score of four out of ten for his unsuccessful efforts to hold the midfield together.
RM: Djibril Sow – 2/10 -is not a winger, and he contributed nothing to the game.
AM: Xherdan Shaqiri – 3/10 – Was at least a danger from set pieces and was given a position that accommodated his lack of athletic mobility.
Another game in which Ruben Vargas ran into dead ends and did nothing to assist his team’s attempts to score goals.
Breel Embolo is by far the most excellent outfielder for Switzerland. His efforts to get his country into the tie were limited.
Manager: Murat Yakin – 3/10 – His team was vastly outmatched, which is at least acceptable, but they put up little resistance.
Goncalo Ramos was the match’s MVP.
