Qatar 2022: I didn’t regret it – Fernando Santos gives reason for benching Ronaldo

Portugal boss, Fenando Santos has explained why he kept Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench again against Morocco in Saturday’s quarter-final match.

He defended his decision, insisting it had ‘no impact’ on their World Cup exit in the hands of Morocco.

Youssef En-Nesyri’s first-half strike, capitalising on Diogo Costa’s mistake, was enough to take the Africans through to the semi-finals.

Morocco became the first-ever African team to make it this far in the FIFA World Cup.

“It had no impact on the team’s production,” Santos told reporters when asked about the decision.

“The two people who got the most pain from this were me and him.

“Emotionally, it is something that marks us but it had no influence.

“I don’t regret it. Cristiano is a huge player, he came in when we understood that it was necessary.”