Bernardo Silva was seen seemingly refusing to celebrate with his Portugal teammates during their emphatic 6-1 victory over Switzerland on Tuesday night.
Portugal eased into the quarter finals of the World Cup to set up a last-eight clash with Morocco.
A hat-trick from 21-year-old Goncalo Ramos – who was starting due to Cristiano Ronaldo being dropped to the bench – sent Portugal on their way. Additional goals from Pepe, Raphael Guerreiro and Rafael Leao completed an impressive victory for Fernando Santos’s side.
The manager’s decision to drop Ronaldo was certainly vindicated.
With the exciting talent in this Portuguese side, they have every chance of going all the way in Qatar.
Bernardo may only be 28 but he’s seen it all during his incredible career.
And that experience could be seen after Ramos gave Portugal the lead against Switzerland.
As the entire Portuguese team – and their substitutes – mobbed Ramos in the corner off the pitch at the Lusail Stadium, Silva was seen standing still several yards away. He had initially joined in the celebrations before backing away onto the pitch.
Why didn’t Bernardo Silva celebrate with Portugal teammates?
Why didn’t he want to celebrate with Ramos?
Well, fans noticed that he was the only onfield player actually standing on the pitch and believe Silva knew actually what he was doing.
It’s something we witnessed on numerous occasions at the previous World Cup with some teams even attempting to take a quick kick off while the other side celebrated off the pitch.
Can teams score while the other side is celebrating off the pitch?
But can teams actually score while the other side is celebrating?
FIFA’s Law 8 states “all players, except the player taking the kick-off, must be in their own half of the field of play,” for play to resume. Many believe being off the pitch counts as not being in their own half.
However, after all the confusion at the 2018 World Cup, FIFA moved to clarify the rules.
FIFA have clarified the rules
“The laws are clear,” a FIFA spokesperson said.
“Law eight says ‘all players, except the player taking the kick-off, must be in their own half of the field of play,’ at kick off.
“Therefore, the referee clearly cannot and would not (from a fairness perspective) allow the kick off whilst players are off the field celebrating.”
So teams cannot take kick-off while the opposition is off the pitch celebrating.
It seems Bernardo wasn’t willing to take any chances whatsoever.
