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. Read more: Which World Cup starlet can replace Messi, Ronaldo? 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. Read more: Ronaldo looks to shine like Mbappé and Messi at World Cup 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.

Croatia knocked Brazil out of the World Cup on Friday, beating the five-time champions 4-2 in a penalty shootout to reach the semifinals for the second straight time. Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic saved a penalty attempt by Rodrygo and Marquinhos later hit the post. The match had finished 1-1 after extra time, with both goals coming in the additional 30 minutes. Neymar scored late in the first half of extra time to give Brazil the lead, but Croatia equalized when Bruno Petkovic scored in the 117th. Neymar’s goal moved him into a tie with Pelé as Brazil’s all-time leading scorer with 77 goals. Croatia will next face either Argentina or the Netherlands to try to return to the World Cup final four years after losing the title to France. Read more: Brazil vs Croatia Quarter-final Preview: FIFA World Cup 2022

Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) champions Bashundhara Kings smartly reached the quarterfinals of the season’s curtain raiser soccer meet, the Independence Cup Football’ 21, beating Chittagong Abahani Limited by 3-0 goals in the last group match at the Bir Shrestha Shahid Shipahi Mohammad Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur here on Wednesday. With the day’s feat, star studded Kings emerged Group D champions with all-win record securing full nine points from straight three matches while Chittagong Abahani finished last in the four–team group to make their early exit from the tournament with two points from three matches. Read:Ind Cup Football: Dhaka Abahani emerge group champions to reach quarterfinals In the day’s match, Brazilian forward Robson Robinho scored first for the Kings in the 22nd minute (1-0) , Medio Mohammad Ibrahim widen the Kings margin in the 83th minute (2-0) while midfielder Matin Miah sealed the fate of the match scoring one more goal in the 88th minute (3-0) In the day’s other match, Bangladesh Police FC confirmed their quarterfinal berth from group D after playing 1-1 draw with Bangladesh Navy at the same venue Wednesday afternoon.  After a barren first half, forward SM Bablu put Police FC ahead in the 52nd minute (10) while Brazilian defender Danilo Augusto scored a suicidal goal for Police in the 74th minute (1-1). After the match, both the Police FC and Bangladesh Navy, have secured two points each from all the three matches. But, Police FC moved into the last eight stage by virtue of conceding less goals than the Navy.   Read:Ind Cup Football: Saif SC, BD Army reach quarterfinals The quarterfinals matches of the meet will begin on Friday (Dec 10).   The Group A champions Dhaka Abahani Limited will play Group C runners-up Bangladesh Army in the first quarterfinal while Group C champions Saif SC will encounters Group A runners-up Swadhinata KS in the 2nd quarterfinal on the same day (Friday).  Group B champions Sheikh Russel KC will play Group D runners-up Police FC in the 3rd quarterfinal on Sunday (Dec 12) while Group D champions Bashundhara Kings will face Group B runners-up Sheikh Jamal DC in the 4th quarterfinal on the same day (Sunday).