Back home he is known as O Feiticeiro, The Wizard. And on Tuesday night Goncalo Ramos performed one of the most incredible bits of sorcery ever seen: he made Cristiano Ronaldo disappear.
The debate about whether Portugal are better or worse without him is now over. Ronaldo removed from the starting line-up for his latest show of petulance in decline, the young man in his placed scored a hat-trick and had a hand in another as Switzerland were demolished 6-1.
There is no way back now. Not into the starting line-up. Ronaldo came on with 16 minutes remaining and has a role to play here, if engaged, but Portugal are better with a faster, younger man leading its line.
And one day, age will catch up with Ramos, too, as it does all player. But it will not be one day soon. It will be decades from now. For Ronaldo, that moment of truth has arrived.
Even if Ramos had been content with his first goal, which broke the deadlock and put Portugal on a path to meet Morocco in the quarter-finals, it would have vindicated coach Fernando Santos’s call.
But he didn’t stop there. He grabbed a second, a third, and got an assist to a goal by Raphael Guerreiro. It was a stunning introduction to Portugal’s starting XI. It made a statement. It drew a line.
In charge 2-0 up at half-time, after the break Portugal took off. In the 51st minute, Diogo Dalot – who, incredibly, keeps Joao Cancelo out of this side – crossed from the right and Ramos got in front of Eray Comert at the near post to poke the ball through the legs of outmatched Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
What a goal the fourth one was. An exchange of passes between Joao Felix and Otavio brought Ramos into play and he slid a lovely pass to Raphael whose finish left Sommer no chance.
At that point Switzerland scored and Ramos even contrived to have a hand in that too, the ball coming off his head trying to clear a corner, before Manuel Akanji volleyed in at the far post.
No matter. It was soon forgotten when the young man went to the other end and nailed his hat-trick.
Joao Felix played the pass but Ramos finished with a Messi-style – or should it be Saka-style – dink over Sommer.
He was off soon after, having completed arguably the most astonishing World Cup debut in history.
Rafael Leao curled one past Sommer in stoppage time for the sixth while Ronaldo came on and had a goal disallowed. Consider that baton passed.
Going into this game, Cristiano Ronaldo had played precisely 514 minutes of World Cup knockout football, for zero goals.
His replacement, Goncalo Ramos, took 17 minutes to secure his first. It is pleasing for a manager when a plan comes together and, on the bench, Fernando Santos must have been grinning like a Cheshire cat. Inside, obviously.
It wouldn’t do to exude too much glee given the decision he had made. For all Santos knew, Piers Morgan could still be out here, and with a TV crew primed and ready to go.
There may not be a bigger call made by any manager at this World Cup than the one that removed Ronaldo from the starting line-up here. It was at the European Championships in 2004 the last time Ronaldo was dropped in a meaningful match at a major tournament by Portugal.
Russia were the opponents in the second group game and Ronaldo was still a teenager. He came on in the second-half for Luis Figo. Portugal had bigger stars than CR7, back then. Figo was the No 7. Ronaldo was CR17. Leaving him out now, then, was huge.
Despite vox pops back home, many still thought when it came to it, Ronaldo would be an undroppable force and Santos would stop short of consigning him to the bench. He spoke yesterday of his disappointment in Ronaldo’s reaction to being left out in the last game – the player tried to claim curse words were aimed at an opponent, not Portugal’s coaching staff – and many shared his anger. A reprimand and the ultimate sanction are very different, however. The news that Ronaldo would not be starting caused significant ripples pre-match.
As did the name of Ronaldo’s replacement. Ramos, a 21-year-old forward from Benfica, who was not even an international footballer a month ago. He made his debut on November 17 in a friendly against Nigeria – scored one, made one, not a bad start – but had never started for his country until last night. What a debut this was, then. Ramos has been prolific for Benfica this season with nine goals in 11 league games, but a degree of nervousness was only to be expected. Not just his first game, but with the most storied presence in the history of Portuguese football consigned to the margins on his behalf.
Yet there is something to be said for being 21 and centre stage. Sometimes you don’t know enough to be scared. Portugal got their first sight of goal after just 17 minutes and, in a flash, Ramos had put it in the net. Joao Felix picked up a throw-in on the left, slipped it through to Ramos. It was a crazily tight angle but, with the innocence and confidence of youth, Ramos took it on. He also took on the reflexes of goalkeeper Yann Sommer and the stitching skills of whatever machine it is that makes the net. What a strike. Bang, gone, 1-0. Sommer barely had a chance to move. It was like that old quickest draw in the west joke. Want to see it again?
On the bench all cameras were trained on Ronaldo, but what was he going to do? Shout at the Swiss defence to be more organised next time? He ran down the touchline to celebrate with his usurper same as the rest of the Portuguese team. We say he makes it all about him but, let’s face it, so does the media. Before the game, as the teams lined up, the crowd of cameramen gathered in front of the Portuguese dug-out was astonishing, all with their lenses pointed away from the pitch to one figure on the bench. It was such a huge crowd that Harry and Meghan will probably use it in their next Netflix documentary and claim it was about them.
Ramos got away in the 23rd minute, too, but elected to shoot rather than play in a better placed team-mate, so raw enthusiasm isn’t always an advantage. Fortunately for Portugal they boast experience too, in the form of Pepe, 40 next birthday – who took Ronaldo’s captain’s armband in his absence. When he claimed Portugal’s second, he became the second oldest goalscorer in World Cup history, after 42-year-old Roger Miller of Cameroon.
It was a cracking header meeting a corner from Bruno Fernandes and getting in between Switzerland’s Fabian Schar and Manuel Akanji. Ronaldo seemed to like that one even more. And he smiled broadly when midway through the second-half the crowd at the Lusail Stadium sang his name, imploring Santos to bring him on. By that time, however, all but the most besotted members of the fan club were talking about the new kid in town.
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