Cristiano Ronaldo Fernando Santos Rafael Leao Raphael Guerreiro Qatar Switzerland Portugal Santos Cristiano Ronaldo Fernando Santos Rafael Leao Raphael Guerreiro Qatar Switzerland Portugal Santos

Shaqiri apologises to Swiss fans after chastening defeat by Portugal

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LUSAIL, Qatar : Switzerland midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri apologised to their fans after they were dumped out of the World Cup in humiliating fashion as they suffered a 6-1 defeat to a rampant Portugal in the last 16 at Lusail Stadium on Tuesday.Goncalo Ramos scored a hat-trick, with Pepe, Raphael Guerreiro and Rafael Leao also on the scoresheet as Portugal put Switzerland to the sword to storm into their first World Cup quarter-final since 2006.Portugal coach Fernando Santos benched Cristiano Ronaldo and was rewarded with a far slicker and more artful display from his team than anything they had shown in the group stages as Switzerland were outplayed in every part of the pitch."Today we have to apologise to all Switzerland fans in the name of the team.

That was not our true face tonight," Shaqiri said."We're very disappointed. We were shown our limits tonight. The coach gave us a plan but it did not work out for us.

We lost the game already in the first half and were always a step too late."Swiss coach Murat Yakin, whose contract with the national team runs for two more years, said Portugal had caught his side by surprise."We must accept this defeat and congratulate Portugal," he said.

They were the best team this evening. They surprised us.""We lost a game today but that doesn't mean we have to be too pessimistic and criticise everything.

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LLISBON: Fernando Santos has left his job as Portugal coach after his team lost to Morocco in the World Cup quarter-finals, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) said on Thursday (Dec 15).    The Portuguese suffered a shock 1-0 defeat by Morocco in Qatar on Saturday, after Santos started with the country's all-time record goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo on the substitutes' bench.   "After one of the best participations ever by the national team in the final stages of the World Cup...FPF and Fernando Santos understand this is the right moment to start a new cycle," the FPF said in a statement.   Santos, who has been widely criticised for his tactics, became Portugal coach in 2014 and led the country in 109 matches. They won the European Championship in 2016 and UEFA's inaugural Nations League in 2018-19.   "In addition to the titles won, Fernando Santos became the coach with the most games and most victories," FPF said. "It was an honour to have a coach and a person like Fernando Santos as the head of the national team."   FPF said its board would now start the process of selecting a new manager.
LISBON: Portugal coach Fernando Santos has quit, the Portuguese soccer federation announced Thursday, after eight years in the job and five days after Portugal’s exit from the World Cup in the quarterfinals. The 68-year-old Santos reached an amicable agreement with the federation to leave two years before his contract ends, a statement said. The federation named no replacement for Santos and said they were starting their search.
Morocco's national airline is laying on 30 extra return flights to jet euphoric fans to Qatar for Wednesday's historic World Cup semi-final against France.

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