Cristiano Ronaldo continues to dominate the headlines despite Portugal's recent thrashing of Switzerland in the FIFA World Cup round of 16, with the latest rumors claiming the national team captain threatened to leave the squad altogether following Tuesday's incident.
The Euro 2016 champions took to the field recently, battling Xhaka and Co. for a spot in the quarterfinal. However, controversy sparked before even a ball was kicked as Fernando Santos decided to bench the five-time Ballon d'Or winner for this tie.
The 37-year-old icon struggled to impress during the group stage and had endured a rumored falling out with the manager. A Seleção went on to win the Switzerland game convincingly, with Goncalo Ramos, the man who replaced Cristiano in the lineup, netting a historic hat-trick en route to a 6-1 victory.
Ronaldo came on as a late substitute and while he did not get on the scoresheet, the skipper celebrated the win with his teammates before quickly heading down the tunnel by himself.
Nonetheless, this does not mean all is well between the player and the manager. According to Portuguese news outlet Record, the unhappy CR7 threatened to pack his bags and leave the national team altogether during a sit-down with Santos after being informed of the lineup versus Switzerland.
The pair endured a "tense" conversation but ultimately, the legendary attacker came to his senses and accepted that stability is needed within the camp, thus reversing his ultimatum.
However, the Portugal FA have quickly moved to rubbish those allegations, revealing in an official statement that their talisman never threatened to leave and remains committed to the national team.
"Reports claiming Cristiano Ronaldo threatened to leave the national team during a conversation with Fernando Santos are not true — FPF clarifies that at no time did Cristiano threaten to leave the national team in Qatar," the statement read.
The statement goes on to remind everyone that Ronaldo is their most capped player in history with an "unquestionable degree of commitment to the national team".
Nonetheless, this is an issue that will likely ramble on. The European heavyweights are back in action on Saturday, taking on Morocco in their highly-anticipated quarterfinal fixture, with Goncalo Ramos tipped to keep his spot in the lineup ahead of Cristiano after the Benfica ace's Man of the Match performance against Switzerland.
