Nigeria Newspapers Online

Rampant Portugal rushed Switzerland 6-1 on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals of the ongoing World Cup in Qatar.

Gonçalo Ramos was the hero of the Portuguese side, grabbing a hat-trick in the annihilation of Switzerland.

He started the game instead of Cristiano Ronaldo and he delivered the goods for Portugal with a sterling performance. 

He opened scoring on 17th minute. Joao Felix fed the ball through to Ramos, who picked up the pass inside the box and quickly sent it into the top left corner.

Portugal made it 2-0 on 33 minutes. Bruno Fernandes took over corner duties. Pepe got his head on the ball from the corner and put it into the left side of the net.

On 51st minute, Diogo Dalot laid the ball off to Ramos, who shot from close range into the right side of the goal, leaving the goalkeeper helpless to make it 3-0 for Portugal.

Four minutes later, Raphael Guerreiro ran onto a pass from Ramos after great counter attacking play and hit a fine first-time shot into the net from close range to make it 4-0.

Manuel Akanji reduced the tally for Switzerlan, collecting the ball deep inside the box from a rebound after the corner kick. He beat the keeper with a sharp shot.

Ramos got his hat-trick on 67th minute.  Joao Felix got to the ball, slipped Ramos into the area and he scored with a delightful chipped finish to make it.

It was 6-1 for Portugal on added time. Raphael Guerreiro passed to Rafael Leao, who collected the ball and unleashed a terrific shot from the edge of the box. His effort went inside the right post.