Then there’s that other out-and-out striker we were talking about. Goncalo Ramos was left on the bench until the 83rd minute in Portugal’s opener in Houston as Martinez turned to wingers Francisco Conceicao and Rafael Leao before bringing him on, with Ronaldo remaining on the pitch even after the Paris Saint-Germain man was introduced.
There was a time when Ramos looked like the natural successor to Ronaldo, most notably when former manager Fernando Santos dramatically started him ahead of the legendary attacker in a last-16 clash with Switzerland at the 2022 World Cup during his prolific season with Benfica. Ramos famously seized the opportunity by plundering a hat-trick and laying on another in a 6-1 rout.
However, since Santos was replaced by Martinez in the aftermath of Portugal’s disappointing quarter-final exit in Qatar, Ramos has had to be incredibly patient for opportunities, with the new head coach instantly reverting back to leaning on the iconic veteran and repeatedly defending that dependence.
Partly as a result of that, the PSG striker’s career probably hasn’t followed the expected trajectory at both club and international level in subsequent seasons; Ramos has only netted six goals for Portugal since the 2022 tournament, while he has rarely been a starter since joining the French giants in 2023.
