People made sure that Messi won the World Cup instead of Ronaldo.

According to former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, Argentina’s players and coaches banded together to make sure Lionel Messi had a successful World Cup.

However, Neville believes Portugal did not use Cristiano Ronaldo’s abilities against him.

As Portugal fell 1-0 to Morocco in the quarterfinals, Ronaldo came off the bench.

The 37-year-old was also benched for their Round of 16 match against Switzerland, a 6-1 victory for Goncalo Ramos in his stead.

Ronaldo departed Qatar having scored only one goal in five games, a penalty in the team’s first group game against Ghana.

Nicolai said:

Argentina has effectively handled Messi in terms of how the other members of the team have gathered around him, playing to his strengths.

“In contrast, I assumed Santos, who has known Cristiano for a long time, would have acted similarly in the case of Portugal.

I get the impression that something inside the competition has caused the strategy to shift, and Santos has decided to exclude you.