Cristiano Ronaldo was the first man down the tunnel after Portugal’s emphatic World Cup Round of 16 win over Switzerland.
The 37-year-old was dropped from the starting XI by manager Fernando Santos, the first time he has not started a major tournament match since 2008.
His replacement, Goncalo Ramos, went on to score a brilliant hat-trick on their way to a 6-1 win.
The fans were baying for Ronaldo to be brought on and eventually got their wish as he played the final 17 minutes.
Portugal had already scored five by that point and his introduction seemed to be more to appease the crowd.
The change in mood of the game when the five-time Ballon d’Or winner came on in the 73rd minute was evident.
talkSPORT co-commentator for the match, England legend Stuart Pearce, said: “This game turned into a testimonial when he came on. The crowd were shouting for him to come on… but that’s not what the World Cup is about.”
After the match finished, Ronaldo did go over to the fans and applaud.
However, he was the first man down the tunnel while all his teammates stayed out on the pitch to celebrate some more.
On his decision to drop Ronaldo, Santos said after the match: “Cristiano and Ramos are different players. There is no problem with the captain of the national team.”
“We’ve been friends for many years. He set the example of a captain.”
In the next round Portugal will face Morocco and Santos has a huge decision as to whether to leave out Ronaldo again and stick with his hat-trick hero Ramos.
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