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Miguel Albuquerque, a Portuguese politician, has blasted former national team manager Fernando Santos and claimed he tried to insult Cristiano Ronaldo. Albuquerque has also expressed his delight that the coach has been fired and is now without a job.
Ronaldo had a FIFA World Cup to forget, as he scored just once in five matches. He started all three group-stage matches but was benched for the knockout games.
Albuquerque, president of the regional government of Madeira, has now taken shots at Santos. He was quoted as saying by the Record:
"Even more mediocre is a coach who has the best player in the world and to humiliate him, he puts him on the bench. I'm glad that coach was put on the street."
Fernando Santos defends decision to bench Cristiano Ronaldo
Meanwhile, Fernando Santos is adamant that his decision to bench Cristiano Ronaldo was the right one. The former Portugal boss emphasized that he had to think about the team and not about his relationship with the player but admitted it was one of the hardest decisions he had made.
He told a press conference during the World Cup in Qatar:
"I do not regret (leaving Ronaldo on the bench). It wouldn't change anything, in terms of the team I can't be thinking with my heart. I used the team that played really well against Switzerland and there was no reason to change it (against Morocco).
"The strategic decision that I had to make was one of the hardest, but I can't think with my heart, I have to think with my head. It's not that Ronaldo is no longer a great player, that has nothing to do with it."
Speaking about Cristiano Ronaldo, Santos added:
"I have a very close relationship with him - I always have, I have known him since he was 19 years old. This relationship only develops, Ronaldo and I never interpret the human aspect of that of manager and player (in relation to) what we have to do during the match. I will always consider in my role that he is an important player to have in the team."
Cristiano Ronaldo has now joined Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia and has no plans to retire from the national team.
