World Cup: Portugal coach says he doesn’t regret not starting Chelsea target

Portugal coach, Fernando Santos has explained why he kept Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench again during their game against Morocco in Saturday’s quarter-final match.

In a defence, Santos stressed that starting Ronaldo had ‘no impact’ on their World Cup exit at the hands of Morocco.

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

The win also made Morocco become 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.”

Morocco will now face France in the semi-finals