Everything exploded when Cristiano Ronaldo decided to leave the concentration, just a few minutes after Jorge Jesus, the team’s coach, finished the press conference. prior to the duel in which he spoke about the 41-year-old’s situation and explained why he did not see minutes against Norway on September 27.
The situation worsened when the player himself revealed in a statement that there are things that have not been explained, but that he will be the one to reveal “in due time” the ‘truth’ that is currently being raised within the Portuguese team.
“After the press conference of the National Team coach, and after a conversation with the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, I decided to leave the National Team training camp.”
He continued, “in due time I will tell the truth to all the Portuguese about the reasons that motivated me to leave the National Team to which I always dedicated myself. Now is the time to wish good luck to Portugal and to all my teammates, without exception,” explained the Portuguese.
It is important to note that this is not an official withdrawal from the national team, but rather a break for the two remaining matches of the group stage of the UEFA Nations League in this national team break.
Although if things do not improve, Cristiano Ronaldo will hardly be seen wearing the Portugal shirt with Jorge Jesus still in charge of the national team’s technical direction.
Origin of the conflict and explanation of Jorge Jesus
To try to find an explanation for this situation, it is important to go back in time and start telling from where this conflict between the coach and Cristiano Ronaldo began.
Jorge Jesus, who has known Cristiano since his time at Al-Nassr in the 2025-2026 campaign, decided to leave the team’s top scorer without minutes against Norway. Joao Félix and Goncalo Ramos came out ahead of him, who saw the door. Cristiano only went out onto the pitch to warm up for a couple of minutes in the second half.
After this event, the substitutes went out to train the next day to compensate for the load and Cristiano Ronaldo did not appear among them. Even the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) released a statement announcing that the Portuguese did not train with his teammates without indicating the reason.
“Information on training at the Parkenstadion: João Félix has rejoined the team. Francisco Conceição (not available for tomorrow) and Cristiano Ronaldo did not train. Thank you,” the FPF simply reported.
Hours later it was Jorge Jesus’ turn to address the media prior to the duel against Denmark. The journalists realized that Cristiano did not take the field of play in the 15 minutes allowed to record and the questions about this absence did not wait.
Due to the theories, hypotheses and comments of a possible ‘fracture’ in the coach-player relationship, Jorge Jesus came out to deny these assumptions and gave his version of the matter confirming that there was no problem with Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I told Cris that I would not play either in the game against Norway or in the game against Denmark. Because I worked with Cris for a year. I only came to the national team three months ago and I met him suddenly. I know his physical condition perfectly, and I know, because I already knew it in Saudi Arabia, when there were games every three days, that Cris rarely played. Furthermore, Cris never trains the first or second day after a game. Never. I talked about this with him.”
He went deeper, “he never rejected anything. That’s what happened. The game will tell me what I’m going to do. I had agreed with him that I wouldn’t play the next two games, but yes… Maybe I even would have needed it in the last minutes. But the game told me something else and I didn’t put him to play. That’s the key point,” Jorge Jesus highlighted.
Far from finishing, the Portuguese coach assured that there was “no problem” with the player.
“I have had problems with many players. They do not want to make a drama of something that does not exist. The rules are the same for everyone. The status of player does not grant differentiated rights. The status is about respect for their careers, as I do with everyone. With Cris, with others that I have had in my career, I always ask them what I want to do, the plan that I will develop with them, and then I am the one who decides. They know, they all know that they have worked with me. Even the presidents know it. In a club, the president is in charge. In a team, I am in charge. In everything I participate in. It is the same with the players.”
Finally, Jorge Jesus revealed that Cristiano had trained after the duel against Norway, but he did so in the gym, which is why the media could not see him. In turn, he stressed that “There was no incident. They forced me to talk to Cris about a matter that did not exist. There was nothing to talk about. What we talked about was what he said at the press conference,” he stated.
The truth is that what has been said could be just the tip of the ‘iceberg’, especially given what was said by Cristiano Ronaldo who will give his version of what happened in due time. Meanwhile, the Portuguese will not be with the team for the duels against Denmark (October 1) and Norway (October 4).
