Santos, the head coach of Portugal, urges for a conclusion to the Ronaldo scandal.

DOHA (AFP) – Portugal coach Fernando Santos said on Friday that Cristiano Ronaldo had been miffed over being benched while pleading for the incident to be put to rest.

For the first time since 2006, the seasoned striker came in as a substitute during his team’s 6-1 victory over Switzerland in the World Cup’s last-16 round.

Ronaldo allegedly threatened to leave the team after learning that he wasn’t in the starting lineup, according to a story in the Portuguese newspaper Record.

The Portuguese football association refuted the claims, and Ronaldo himself said on social media that the team was “too unified to be divided by outside forces.”

Speaking before Portugal’s quarterfinal match against Morocco, Santos said that he had talked to Ronaldo the day before the match against Switzerland.

He said, “I invited him to my office and informed him you won’t be one of the starters, so it wouldn’t be a surprise.

“I told him he would be vital (but) in terms of the tactics, I told him it s better for you not to play . I saved him for the second half.”

Santos said that despite his annoyance at being benched, five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo never threatened to leave the team camp.

For obvious reasons, Cristiano wasn’t very pleased about it, according to Santos. “With the exception of one or two games where he on the bench, he has always been a starter; clearly, this made him unhappy.

“Do you truly think it’s a good idea, he asked me? However, we had a typical talk during which I expressed my opinions.

We had an open and honest discussion, and he has never informed me that he wants to quit our national team, so of course he accepted.

Ronaldo, according to Santos, demonstrated his dedication to the squad by applauding Portugal’s scores and inspiring the players to applaud the spectators.

In an effort to put an end to the situation, the coach declared, “It’s high time we finish with this talk, stop the controversies.”

In recognition of all Ronaldo has accomplished for Portuguese football, it is about time you left him alone.

As Morocco will provide a different challenge from Switzerland on Saturday, Santos said that he would re-incorporate the 37-year-old into the squad.

They have a lot of players from Chelsea, PSG, and Bayern Munich and are a very well-organized club with tremendous talent and promise, he stated.