“A dream premiere”, wrote the young Benfica striker on Instagram three weeks ago. In his first call-up, a few days before the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he managed to score a goal and provide an assist in less than 25 minutes against Nigeria (4-0).
In Qatar, he increased his international baggage with two brief appearances against Uruguay and Ghana – ten minutes in total – before the big surprise on Tuesday: for the game against Switzerland, Fernando Santos opted for him as a starter instead of Cristiano Ronaldopunished for his bad reaction to being substituted against South Korea (2-1) and his disappointing performances.
Half an hour of play in total and three games with the Portuguese team to replace a legend who has 194 caps, 118 goals with the Seleçao, five Ballon d’Ors… Impressed, Gonçalo Ramos? The truth is, no.
Cristiano “talked to me before the game, like he talks to everyone. He’s the captain and he always tries to help”Ramos explained after the game that he does not want success to go to his head: “It was a great game, but the important thing now is to keep calm.”
The lanky center forward (1.86m) responded to the rumble of his ownership with three brilliant goals, three of the six from Portugal’s masterpiece against Switzerland.
He opened the scoring in the 17th minute with an extraordinary left-footed shot that went under the crossbar after a good assist from Joao Félix. Just after the break, he extended the Portuguese lead to 3-0 with a shot in the box from Diogo Dalot’s cross, for a brace that he celebrated by imitating finger guns.
Three minutes later, he accurately assisted Guerreiro (4-0, 55) and, finally, completed his fantastic night in the 67th minute with another goal, the third, chipping the ball before the departure of Yann Sommer (5-1, 67).
With a quarter of an hour to go, after three goals and an assist, it was time to leave the field and the spotlights to Ronaldo, who discreetly congratulated him on the change.
In his first start with Portugal, the young rookie had just achieved three times what the legend has been chasing five World Cups: scoring in a World Cup knockout phase match.
“Cristiano is a benchmark for all of us, he leads the team, but we have other players like Bruno Fernandes or Pepe who are also capable of leading and helping Cristiano”Ramos said after the game against Ghana, in which he replaced CR7.
His arrival to the national team, along with Ronaldo, João Félix and Bernardo Silvais the result of a very successful start to the season with enfica, which, according to L’Equipe, has even earned him the interest of Paris SG and his sports advisor, the Portuguese Luis Campos.
With the Lisbon club, he has netted nine goals and three assists in the league, plus one goal and one assist in a tough Champions League group that saw Benfica finish ahead of PSG, Juventus and Maccabi Haifa.
Portugal, Europe and now the world. Gonçalo Ramos has no time to lose.
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
