Posted by According to former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, Argentina’s players and coaches banded together to make sure Lionel Messi had a successful World Cup.
However, Neville believes Portugal did not utilize Cristiano Ronaldo’s abilities against him.
As Portugal fell 1-0 to Morocco in the quarterfinals, Ronaldo came off the bench.
The 37-year-old was also benched for their Round of 16 match against Switzerland, a 6-1 victory for Goncalo Ramos in his place.
Ronaldo left Qatar having scored just one goal in five games, a penalty in the team’s first group game against Ghana.
“Argentina has managed Messi in terms of how the rest of the group has developed around him, and they totally play to his abilities,” Neville remarked.
“In contrast, I assumed Santos, who has known Cristiano for a long time, would have acted similarly in the case of Portugal.
I have the impression that something within the competition has caused the strategy to shift, and Santos has decided to exclude you.