Young Benfica striker Goncalo Ramos scored a hat trick on his first international start for his country as Portugal hammered Switzerland 6-1 in the Round of 16. The Euro 2016 champions will now meet Morocco, who beat Spain on penalties, in the last eight.
Portugal coach Fernando Santos opted to bench veteran Cristiano Ronaldo and start the 21-year-old Ramos instead, and was rewarded as the Benfica forward put his side ahead with a fine individual effort on 17 minutes, smashing one into the top corner from a tight angle.
Portugal doubled their advantage when veteran Pepe nodded home from a corner. Ramos could have made it 3-0 before half time, but was denied by a fine save from Yann Sommer. However, the Swiss keeper could do nothing to stop him from getting two more after the interval as he duly completed his hat-trick. Switzerland’s solitary goal came from the boot of Manuel Akanji before the hour mark.
Raphael Guerreiro and Rafael Leao also got themselves on the scoresheet- the latter with a superb curling effort in second half stoppage time, as Portugal cruised home, thus becoming the first side since Germany in 2014 to score six or more in a knockout clash.
