After briefly celebrating with his teammates following the final whistle,Ronaldo walked off the field on his own — perhaps wondering where his career goes from here. He is currently without a club afterleaving Manchester United midway through the World Cup,and he might no longer be the starter for his country.
The rest of the Portugal team hung around to applaud the team’s fans at one end of the stadium. A quarter-final match awaits againstMorocco on Saturday and Santos now has to decide whether to stick with Ramos or restore Ronaldo,the top scorer in men’s international soccer and one of the game’s greatest players.