Bernardo Silva had clever explanation for not celebrating Portugal goal

While the rest of his Portugal team-mates were celebrating Goncalo Ramos' opening goal against Switzerland, Bernardo Silva notably did not join in.

It appears that may have been a clever ploy from the Manchester City star to prevent his side immediately conceding an equaliser. Silva started in midfield for the Selecao for Tuesday's last-16 clash against the Swiss, which Portugal would go on to easily win.

The scoring was opened by Ramos, who had replaced the dropped Cristiano Ronaldo up front. The Benfica star fired in a stunning strike high into the near post after picking up the ball inside the box from Joao Felix's pass.

He immediately sprinted off to the corner to celebrate, with the rest of his team-mates flocking to him. Silva initially joined them before quickly making his way back onto the pitch, but staying in the Switzerland half.

Fans watching quickly realised why Silva had taken himself away from the celebrations. And they revealed that his actions may have potentially saved his team from conceding a goal.

One wrote: "Bernardo Silva too smart. Quickly got back onto the pitch during the celebrations, so the game couldn't restart." Another added: "Bernardo Silva playing 5D chess and running back onto the pitch so the Swiss can't restart quickly too."

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A third concluded: "Notice Bernando Silva staying alive during the celebrations, running back on to the pitch. Elite mentality."

Law 8 of the Laws of the Game governs kick-offs and appears to prove the theory that Silva saved his team. The law states: "After a team scores a goal, the kick-off is taken by their opponents.

"For every kick-off all players, except the player taking the kick off, must be in their own half of the field of play, the opponents of the team taking the kick-off must be at least 9.15 m (10 yds) from the ball until it is in play, the ball must be stationary on the centre mark, the referee gives a signal, the ball is in play when it is kicked and clearly moves."

The first part of that would appear to show Silva's clever piece of play, with the rest of his team-mates off the pitch and goalkeeper Diogo Costa in the Portugal half, Switzerland may have been able to kick-off.

However, players being off the pitch does not count as them being in their own half, meaning Silva could have joined in with the celebrations. He was not left out though, with Portugal going on to score five more times to reach the quarter-finals.

Ramos would go on to score a hat-trick, with Pepe, Raphael Guerreiro and Rafael Leao also hitting the back of the net in a 6-1 win. Portugal will take on Morocco in the last eight as they look to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup for the first time since 2006.

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