Fernando Santos admits Cristiano Ronaldo's role for Portugal is 'undefined' after latest act of 'petulance'

Portugal boss Fernando Santos has admitted Cristiano Ronaldo's role for the rest of the World Cup has yet to be 'defined' after his retirement.

The 37-year-old has been replaced by Goncalo Ramos for Portugal's Round of 16 tie with Switzerland. The newcomer scored a hat-trick on his World Cup debut as Santos' side ran out 6-1 winners to progress.

Ronaldo was fired after reacting angrily after being substituted in Portugal's last game against South Korea.

Gary Neville slammed Ronaldo ahead of the Switzerland game, saying the striker's 'petulance' had to 'stop'.

Asked about Ronaldo, who left Manchester United under a cloud in the final, Santos replied: "It's still something to be defined.

"I have a very close relationship with him - I've always had him, I've known him since he was 19.

"This relationship is only growing, Ronaldo and I never interpret the human aspect of that of coach and player (in relation to) what we have to do during the game. I will always consider in my role that he is an important player to have in the team."

When asked directly if Ronaldo would play against Morocco, Santos replied optimistically: "Ronaldo will definitely be (involved), all the players on the bench can be used, if they are not in training start, they can play later.

"It's important to take this player's story as an example, he's one of the best players in the world to play professionally, as a captain - all we have to do is think about this team collectively."

Ramos had played just 33 minutes of senior international football before his stunning performance in Qatar, but Santos says the striker 'stood out' before throwing the 21-year-old into the spotlight.

Ramos struck in a spectacular left-footed strike 17 minutes into his debut, which Pepe added with a powerful header as the 39-year-old became the oldest goalscorer in Round of 16 history of the World Cup.

Portugal continued their ascent after half-time as Ramos headed home from close range before playing Raphael Guerreiro to open a four-goal advantage.

The Benfica striker was disappointed to give Manuel Akanji a Swiss corner to get one back, but he became the first Qatar player to score a hat-trick when he cut Yann Sommer coldly.

The crowd chanted Ronaldo's name and got their wish as they walked in, with the star seeing a goal disallowed for offside before fellow substitute Rafael Leao headed home.

Switzerland coach Murat Yakin acknowledged Portugal were the better side but said whether Ronaldo started or not had no impact on the result.

"We have to admit that our opponent today was better, faster and more attacking," he said.

"Unfortunately our game plan didn't work out and we have to accept that and I congratulate our opponents on this victory. The defeat is painful, we are sad with the way we played.

“We had a clear game plan, we practiced it, we also had test matches and the team knew the system and the formation.

"Whether Ronaldo is playing or not, all our players are capable of playing football but the opponent entered the game better and we didn't manage to get a good start, we saw that a lot of things weren't weren't going for us."

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