Cristiano Ronaldo benched against Morocco in World Cup quarterfinals
Doha, Dec 10: Cristiano Ronaldo was dropped from Portugal's starting lineup for the second straight match at the World Cup. The 37-year-old Ronaldo won't play from the outset in the quarterfinal match against Morocco on Saturday, after starting on the bench and then coming on as a substitute for the round-of-16 match against Switzerland.
Gonçalo Ramos, who scored a hat trick on Tuesday in Portugal's 6-1 win over Switzerland on his first start for Portugal, was again selected ahead of Ronaldo.
Ronaldo is playing in his fifth and likely final World Cup.
He was left out of the lineup against the Swiss after coach Fernando Santos expressed frustration about his team captain's attitude in the previous game.
Santos later said Ronaldo was “not happy” to be told he was being benched, but never threatened to leave the World Cup because of the decision.
Ronaldo, the all-time leading scorer in men's international soccer with 118 goals, eventually came in as a replacement in the 74th minute. He had looked somewhat disconnected from the rest of the squad after the match, and had already shown a poor attitude after being substituted in the last group game against South Korea.
Ronaldo was coming off lackluster performances in the group stage, though he scored in the 3-2 win against Ghana to become the first player to score in five World Cups. He has played in every edition of the tournament since 2006.
Portugal's other starters against Morocco at Al Thumama Stadium included João Félix, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes and Otávio.
Portugal is trying to make it to the last four for the third time, having finished third in 1966 and fourth in 2006. It hadn't gotten past the round of 16 since that tournament in Germany 16 years ago.
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SGPC writes to Mann, seeks ban on 'Emergency' in Punjab a day before release
Amritsar, Jan 16 (PTI): The SGPC on Thursday wrote to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, seeking a ban on the release of Kangana Ranaut's movie 'Emergency' saying it "tarnishes" the image of Sikhs and "misrepresents" history.
Actor and BJP MP Ranaut's 'Emergency' is slated to release in cinemas on January 17.
In the letter to Mann, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Harjinder Singh Dhami expressed strong objection to Ranaut's film.
Dhami said that if the film is released in Punjab, it will spark "outrage and anger" in the Sikh community and therefore it is the responsibility of the government to ban its release in the state.
The SGPC, an apex gurdwara body, had earlier also protested the film.
"It has come to our attention that the movie 'Emergency' produced by BJP MP Kangana Ranaut is going to be released on 17th January 2025 in cinemas in different cities of Punjab and the tickets have also started to be booked," its letter to Mann read.
Dhami said the SGPC had also protested the release of the movie in a letter to the Punjab Chief Secretary on November 14 last year.
"But it is sad that the Punjab government has not taken any step till now. If this film is released on January 17, 2025, then it is natural to create outrage and anger in the Sikh world," the current letter read.
Dhami said the SGPC will submit a letter also to all the deputy commissioners in Punjab, seeking a ban on the film in the state.
The SGPC denounced the "character assassination" of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Khalistani militant killed in 1984 in a military operation.
"If this film is released in Punjab, we will be forced to strongly oppose it at the state level," Dhami said.
In August last year, the SGPC sent a legal notice to the producers of the 'Emergency' film, alleging that it "misrepresented" the character and history of Sikhs, and asked them to remove the objectionable scenes depicting "anti-Sikh" sentiments.
In the notice, the producers of the film, including Kangana Ranaut, were asked to remove the trailer released on August 14 from all public and social media platforms and tender a written apology to the Sikh community.
The SGPC objected to film writing separate letters to the Minister of Information and Broadcasting and the Central Board of Film Certification.
