Cristiano Ronaldo has broken his silence over his sudden departure from Portugal duty, accusing coach Jorge Jesus of breaking his word and giving a false account of what happened.
The 41-year-old left the Portugal camp last week after being left on the bench against Norway, despite Ronaldo claiming that Jesus had promised he would play for 30 minutes. He had also been left out of Portugal’s plans for the Denmark match. Pasted text
Ronaldo addressed the situation in a lengthy statement released on Tuesday, apologising to his teammates and Portugal supporters for leaving the camp but making it clear that he felt he had been badly treated.
According to Ronaldo, Jesus initially presented him with a plan for the four Nations League matches. He was supposed to play in the first and fourth games, while the coach suggested he skip the trips to Norway and Denmark. Ronaldo rejected that idea because he did not believe it would set the right example for the captain to stay away from the squad.
Ronaldo said Jesus then changed his mind on the day of the Norway match and told him he would play for 30 minutes. He agreed, despite saying that doing so went against his physical recovery and training plan.
But Ronaldo never got onto the pitch.
That was the point where the relationship broke down. Ronaldo said Jesus had failed to keep his word and that he simply wanted the match to end before leaving the stadium without greeting the supporters.
He later apologised for that reaction.
“I apologise to the Portuguese people who supported us there, I apologise to the fans,” Ronaldo said.
The situation became even more serious after another meeting between Ronaldo, Jesus and sporting director Simao Coutinho.
Ronaldo claimed they agreed that Jesus would explain the situation at a press conference and say that the playing plan had been the coach’s decision, that Ronaldo had never demanded playing time and that it had been a mistake to make him warm up without eventually bringing him onto the pitch.
Instead, Ronaldo said Jesus spoke to the media in a way that he felt was unfair and aggressive. That convinced him to leave the camp rather than wait for another disagreement.
Despite the fallout, Ronaldo has made it clear that he is not retiring from international football yet.
He said he expects to have one or more farewell matches with Portugal and insisted that, as long as he remains physically fit and continues playing for his club, he will remain available for the national team.
Ronaldo also accepted that he could be punished by the Portuguese Football Federation for leaving the camp.
Portugal’s federation president Pedro Proença has already described the situation as a misunderstanding and said Ronaldo remains part of the national team.
