Released from the shadow of Ronaldo and freed from the chains of Simeone, can Joao Felix inspire Portugal?

Fernando Santos' decision to drop Cristiano Ronaldo from the Portugal squad may have come too late for some.

Ronaldo has started each of Portugal's World Cup group matches in Qatar, although he has scored just one goal, converting a penalty he won in the first win over Portugal. Ghana.

This goal went down in history, as Ronaldo often did. He is the only male player to have scored in five World Cups.

However, after frustrating Santos with his reaction to a South Korean player's taunts in Portugal's final Group H game, Ronaldo found himself on the bench for Switzerland's 6-1 loss on Tuesday.

His replacement Goncalo Ramos scored a hat-trick, ensuring Ronaldo will stay on the bench for Saturday's quarter-final against Morocco, the fourth African team to reach the quarter-finals of a World Cup .

Still, Ronaldo's omission could have offered another Portuguese youngster (and like Ramos, one who made his name with Benfica) a chance to finally prove his worth.

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Struggling to live up to the hype

Joao Felix looked set to become a superstar when he broke into the Benfica squad in the 2018-19 season.

He directly contributed to 22 goals in 26 league appearances, scoring 15 goals and assisting seven, creating 29 chances. Joao Felix was handed the Primeira Liga Young Player of the Year award and the Golden Boy award, and a huge move was on the cards.

Cash-rich Atletico Madrid thanks to the impending sale of Antoine Griezmann to Barcelona propelled the rest of Europe's top flight to the wonder of the 19-year-old boy, paying a club-record 126 million euros to take him to the Spanish capital.

Still, for whatever reason, whether it was Diego Simeone's pragmatic approach or Joao Felix suffering from the inconsistencies that many young players do, it didn't quite click at Atleti.

He started just 53 games in three and a half years, and in a single season he created more than 20 chances. Joao Felix's best return for goals and assists combined was 12, in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 campaigns.

Of course, at times it looked like he was starting to fall into place, but a player of Joao Felix's talents needs space, time and tactical flexibility to show what he can do. Too often under Simeone this has not been the case.

During his time at Atleti, Joao Felix - whose best role is somewhere between a striker and an attacking midfielder - played second fiddle or had to complement Luis Suarez, Alvaro Morata, Griezmann (the man who he was brought in to replace, of course) and even Marcos Llorente, before Simeone dismissed the Spanish international.

It's been a similar story internationally. Ronaldo was the player Santos worked his system on, with the whole team determined to get the most out of the top scorer in international football.

It has seen Joao Felix fall by the wayside often, with Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Andre Silva and Diogo Jota, who missed Qatar through injury, among other strikers he has to compete with .

It's time to shine

Yet he was handed over to Qatar, starting all three of Portugal's truly significant matches, scoring in the 3-2 opener win over Ghana. The first two of those starts came alongside Ronaldo, but against Switzerland Joao Felix was placed to the left of a tight front-three that included Ramos and Bruno Fernandes.

Joao Felix thrived. With freedom to drift, he netted two of Portugal's goals, becoming the country's first player to provide two assists in a World Cup knockout game, and his performance has even been compared to Kaka. p>

It was Joao Felix's ball to Ramos from the half-space on the left side of Switzerland's penalty area that led to Portugal's opener in the 17th minute.

Having received the ball at the edge of the opposition midway through the second half, Joao Felix had the awareness to raise his head rather than shoot, and the balance to find another perfect pass at Ramos for Ronaldo's replacement to complete his hat trick.

His 42 touches came on the pitch, while he lost possession just seven times, a particularly impressive figure given, of Portugal's players, only Bernardo Silva (15) attempted more passes in the last third than the 2...