New Delhi, December 12, 2022: Portugal were knocked out of FIFA World Cup 2022 after losing 0-1 to Morocco in the quarter-final on Saturday. Morocco’s Youssef En-Nesyri scored a goal in the 42nd minute which proved to be the winning goal as Portugal were unable to equalise in the match. With the fabulous win, Morocco became the first African country to reach the semi-final of the marquee tournament.
After the match was over, FIFA paid a tribue to Portugal striker and star footballer Cristiano Ronaldo. Official Twitter handle of FIFA World Cup tweeted a video of Ronaldo and captioned it “Obrigado, @Cristiano”. The video tribute is a collection of his eight goals across five editions of the World Cup tournament. Ronaldo had scored his first World Cup goal against Iran in 2006 according to the reports published in hindustantimes.com.
It was the 196th international appearance for Ronaldo and he equalled Kuwaiti footballer Bader Al-Mutawa to become the all-time leading appearance makers in men’s international football. Speculations are high that this editon was of the World Cup was the last one for the 37-year-old Ronaldo. In his illustrious career with many accolades and victories, World Cup is one trophy that has eluded the talismanic forward.
Captain of the Portugal team Ronaldo was not a part of the starting XI in their round of 16 and quarter-final matches which created a controversy of its own. The star footballer was substituted in both the games. As per reports, Ronaldo was miffed by the decisions of the manager Fernando Santos and there was a rift between the two in the knockout stages. The media reports further highlighted that the 37-year-old had even threatened to leave the Portugal World Cup squad and head home.
Meanwhile, Morocco will play the semi-final against France on Thursday, December 15.
