Portugal boss Fernando Santos has insisted that he has "no regrets" over his decision to name Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench for Saturday's World Cup quarter-final with Morocco.

As was also the case against Switzerland in the round of 16, Ronaldo was named among the Portuguese substitutes for the first whistle, but he was introduced early in the second half, with A Selecao searching for a leveller against Morocco.

Youssef En-Nesyri's first-half effort was ultimately the difference between the two sides, and Santos has said that he does not regret naming the 37-year-old on the bench for a second successive match.

"No regrets. I think this was a team which played very well against Switzerland. Cristiano's a great player. He came on when we thought that was necessary," he told reporters after the 1-0 loss.

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"Of course our players are distressed, they are upset. We are even more upset because we know we have skilful players and we were expecting to give more joy to the Portuguese people.

"We knew the challenges we would face, especially in terms of defensive strategy. We tried to make the game hard for our opponents but we were not successful. Obviously we also need to give credit to the Moroccan squad. I think it's not fair for us to lose but that's football."

Santos also revealed that he would be meeting with the president of the Portuguese Football Federation on Sunday to discuss his future.

"Tomorrow I will fly to Lisbon and we will discuss with the president about my future, as always," he added.

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The 68-year-old has been in charge of Portugal since 2014, but it is thought that his reign will now come to an end following the disappointment of the last-eight exit.

Santos led Portugal to the Euro 2016 title, in addition to winning the 2018-19 UEFA Nations League, but the nation disappointed at Euro 2020, only reaching the round of 16, before their quarter-final exit at the World Cup.

The country's next match is scheduled for March 23 against Liechtenstein, which will represent their first game in their qualification campaign for Euro 2024.

Portugal will also take on Luxembourg, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iceland and Slovakia in Group J.

Written by
Matt Law