Portugal boss Fernando Santos has said that it is 'time to leave Cristiano Ronaldo alone', as the national side prepare for their World Cup quarter-final with Morocco.
Ronaldo was left out of the starting XI for Portugal's last-16 clash with Switzerland, and his replacement, Goncalo Ramos, scored three times during a 6-1 victory for A Selecao.
There has since been rumours surrounding the 37-year-old, with a report in Record claiming that he threatened to leave the camp after learning of the manager's decision.
Portugal and Ronaldo have since insisted that was not the case, and Santos has also denied that the free agent threatened a walk-out despite being "not very happy" about his substitute role.
"I spoke to him after lunch on the day of the game and invited him into my office," Santos told reporters.
"For obvious reasons Cristano was not very happy about it as he has always been the starting player. He told me: 'Do you really think it's a good idea?' but we had a normal conversation in which I explained my viewpoints and of course he accepted them. We had a frank and normal conversation.
"I think it's high time to leave Ronaldo alone. He has never told me that he wanted to leave our national team and I think it's high time we stopped with this conversation, that we stop with the polemics."
Santos also said that he is expecting to face "a very strong" Morocco on Saturday, with Walid Regragui's side knocking Spain out of the competition on penalties in the round of 16.
"This is a very strong team, even in offensive positions. To think this is going to be an easy match for Portugal, it won't be," Santos added.
"My players know what this opponent will offer, how competent they are. So we have to go on the pitch with the same joy and without fear to play confidently, because obviously it isn't enough to just be competitive."
Joao Felix, meanwhile, also called on "the Portuguese people" and "the press" to stop speaking about Ronaldo, as the European nation go in search of their first ever World Cup.
"I would like to leave a message to the Portuguese people and to the press. Portugal is in a great competition. We haven't reached the quarter-finals for a long time. We should all be closer together and not try to get the atmosphere worse," said the Atletico Madrid forward.
Portugal have never won the World Cup, with their best performance at the finals proving to be back in 1966, when they finished third at the competition. body check tags ::
