While You Were Asleep: Santos insists Ronaldo was dropped for tactical purpose, Mbappe hails Hakimi, Jesus out for 3 months after knee surgical procedure

Portugal coach Fernando Santos has insisted that his relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo continues to be intact after dropping the 37-year-old from the beginning line-up towards Switzerland of their round-of-16 conflict.

“I have a very close relationship,” mentioned Santos.

“I do know him since he was 19 at Sporting after which he began to develop within the nationwide squad once I arrived in 2014.

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“Ronaldo and I never misinterpret the human and personal aspect with that of manager and player. I will always consider that he is a very important player to have in the team.”

Cristiano Ronaldo (left of image) walks straight off whereas his teammates have a good time with followers. #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/W7jB6iGQOO

— Adriano Del Monte (@adriandelmonte) December 6, 2022

Cristiano Ronaldo was a solitary determine as he walked off the sphere following a World Cup match by which he was not the focal point.

He’d come off the bench in a 6-1 victory over Switzerland on Tuesday that moved Portugal into the quarterfinals. Ronaldo’s 21-year-old substitute scored a hat trick within the win — a efficiency positive to lift questions over Ronaldo’s future together with his nationwide group.

Mbappe hails Hakimi

Achraf Hakimi transformed the decisive spot kick for Morocco with somewhat dink of a shot often known as a “Panenka” in a penalty shootout win over Spain to make his group the primary Arab nation ever to succeed in the World Cup quarterfinals Tuesday.

ACHRAF HAKIMI. 🐧🫶🏽👑

— Kylian Mbappé (@OkayMbappe) December 6, 2022

Instead of utilizing his full power to strike the ball, Hakimi as a substitute waited for Spain goalkeeper Unai Simón to lunge to his proper earlier than calmly pushing the ball into the middle of the aim.

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Hakimi’s PSG team-mate Kylian Mbappe lauded Hakimi’s daredevilry and praised the right-back for his match-winning exploits.

🇲🇦👑🫶🏽… @AchrafHakimi pic.twitter.com/fDCyfMI7LM

— Kylian Mbappé (@OkayMbappe) December 6, 2022

Taking to Twitter the 23-year-old wrote: ‘ACHRAF HAKIMI’ alongside a penguin, crown and love coronary heart with fingers emojis.

The significance of these emojis had been relation to Hakimi celebrating his aim by dancing like a penguin, labelling him a king and the love coronary heart celebration in relation to what he does when he scores.

Mbappe then tweeted once more – sharing an image of the pair alongside emojis to label him ‘Morocco’s King’.

Dima maghib ❤️🤝🏽 https://t.co/sTBHv8h3by

— Achraf Hakimi (@AchrafHakimi) December 6, 2022

Hakimi later quoted tweeted Mbappe writing ‘Dima maghib’ with a love coronary heart and a handshake’.

Morocco will tackle Portugal within the quarter-final, whereas France will lock horns towards England.

Injury blow for Arsenal

Premier League table-topper Arsenal has suffered a large harm blow with their begin striker Gabriel Jesus is about to overlook three months of motion on account of a knee harm, he sustaied on the FIFA World Cup, the membership introduced on Monday.

🗞 Gabriel Jesus has efficiently undergone surgical procedure to his proper knee 👇

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 6, 2022

Jesus has been a significant a part of Arsenal’s early-season success, scoring 5 objectives and offering 5 assists to assist the group set up a five-point lead on the prime of the Premier League earlier than the break for the World Cup.

A 3-month absence would preserve the 25-year-old out of 11 league matches.

“Gabriel Jesus has successfully undergone surgery to his right knee after suffering an injury during the Brazil v Cameroon World Cup group stage match on Friday,” Arsenal mentioned in an announcement.

“Gabby will now start his rehabilitation programme.

“Everyone at the club is supporting Gabby and will be working hard to get him back on the pitch as soon as possible.”

Brazil’s supervisor, Tite, reacted angrily on Sunday to experiences that he knew there was a threat in fielding Jesus.

“I don’t like hearing lies, said with bad intent,” he mentioned. “We never put a player at risk. The liars, the haters, can go and do something else and stop giving fake news.”