India, July 7 -- Portugal's World Cup ended with Cristiano Ronaldo still on the pitch and Goncalo Ramos still on the bench. When the dust settled on a 1-0 Round-of-16 defeat to Spain in Texas on Monday, that decision - or non-decision - by Roberto Martinez became the most fiercely debated aspect of Portugal's campaign, arguably more so than the defeat itself.

The question had lingered over Portugal's tournament long before they landed in North America. Against Spain, however, it resurfaced in the starkest fashion. Eight years after Ronaldo's stunning hat-trick against La Roja at the 2018 World Cup, the 41-year-old managed only three shots in Texas, two of them on target, and failed to find the net across the full 90 minutes.

Ronaldo als...