Cristiano Ronaldo leaves Portugal national team after remarks from Jorge Jesus
Striker withdraws from training camp amid tension with new coach
The striker Cristiano Ronaldo left, on Wednesday (30), the concentration of the national team of Portugal in Copenhagen (Denmark), where the Iberian team will have the hosts in front on Thursday (1st), at 15:45 (Brazil time), for the third round of the League of Nations Grupo D.
The decision was made after the press conference of the technician Jorge Jesus earlier.
Ronaldo is the highest scorer in the history of the Portuguese team, with 146 goals, and the athlete with the most goals for the same team. Ronaldo did not participate in the 2-1 victory over Norway, away last Sunday (27), at the Ullevaal Stadium, in Oslo. In the final stage, the attacker warmed up with the other reserves and was irritated by not being used in the game, valid for the second round.
Three days earlier, CR7 had a 1-0 win over Wales at the José Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon (Portugal), in its European debut. It was also the first match of Jesus at the head of the Portuguese national team.
The goalkeeper was a starter, had a goal annulled and acted until the 22 minutes of the second half, when he gave way to the striker Gonçalo Ramos.
Asked about Ronaldo’s absence, Jesus revealed that there was a plan not to use the 41-year-old against Norway and Denmark, but that if necessary, he could send him on the field. The coach said that the attacker's load control is something that was already administered since they worked together at Al-Nassr (Saudi Arabia), the current club of the shirt 7.
"I'm the coach and I told the player that he was not going to play. 'I'm going to take you to the bench. If I need you for 30 minutes, you'll play. If you don't have to, you won't play." No player will ever change my mind. Neither he nor anyone else in football. Not even a president. Never, ever. Zero," said the coach, who worked for Flamengo between 2019 and 2020.
Ronaldo, who was reunited with the team, left the Parken Stadium - where it will be the game this Thursday - shortly after the press conference and did not even participate in training. Afterwards, he published a message on social networks confirming that he had left the concentration after conversation with the president of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), Pedro Proença.
"In due course, I will tell the truth to all the Portuguese about the reasons that motivated my departure from the national team, to which I have always dedicated myself. Now it is time to wish good luck to Portugal and to all my teammates, without exception," CR7 wrote.
The FPF, also through social networks, confirmed the decision of the striker to leave the concentration and said that the preparation for the games with Denmark and Norway - which will be on Sunday (4), at 15:45, at the Dragon Stadium, in the Portuguese city of Porto - continues "as planned, with the remaining 24 players summoned".
Because of this imbroglio, Ronaldo may even be suspended from the Portuguese national team. Paragraph 1 of Article 160 of the Federation's Disciplinary Code states that the abandonment of activities is liable to one to six months of withdrawal.
In the midst of the friction between CR7 and Jesus, Portugal leads the League of Nations Grupo D with six points, followed by Norway, Denmark (three points each) and Wales (zero). The first two go to the quarter-finals. The Iberian team is the biggest winner of the tournament, with two titles (the last in the last edition, in 2025).
Read also: Changes in the issuance and control of medical prescriptions come into force
