Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal career looks to be over after a dramatic falling-out with coach Jorge Jesus during the recent international window. Ronaldo played 67 minutes in Portugal’s 1-0 win over Wales. Jesus, who replaced Roberto Martínez after the World Cup, had a verbal agreement with Ronaldo that he would not start against Norway but might come off the bench. Ronaldo warmed up early in the second half – it is unclear whether on his own initiative or on Jesus’s instruction – but with the game tight and Portugal eventually winning 2-1, Jesus did not bring him on.
To Ronaldo and his supporters, Jesus’s decision was an unacceptable provocation. Jesus’s view was that winning took priority over the feelings of a 41-year-old forward. Ronaldo walked out on the squad, and possibly on his international career. The walkout has divided the nation, with online backlash and criticism from some of the Portuguese press. Jesus, however, refused to apologise.
Jesus also coached Ronaldo at Al Nassr. At 72, he is an old-school manager, a dictator who takes orders only from the club president. His career has been marked by rifts with players who resisted him. The fact that his falling-out with Ronaldo came in only his second game in charge is perhaps the only surprise. Despite pressure, Jesus insisted on the primacy of the team. ‘I can say to any player that you’re starting on the bench: if I need you for 30 minutes you’re going to play, if I don’t need you, you’re not going to play,’ he said. ‘The way I was reading the game he didn’t come on. Because it’s not Cristiano, just like it will never be any player that will change my ideas as the coach. Never! Not him, not anyone in football. Not him, not anyone, not any president. Never! Zero!’
Jesus’s hardline approach might have backfired had Portugal lost to Denmark, but they won 4-2, playing superbly. Gonçalo Ramos, who had replaced Ronaldo at the 2022 World Cup and scored a hat-trick against Switzerland, set up the first and scored another against the Danes, having already scored the winner against Norway. Ramos said: ‘The new manager is a great help. We have clearer ideas; we know exactly where each teammate is, both in defense and attack. We’re improving day by day, and it’s all part of a process. We’re very happy with the win, once again against a good team.’ Ramos was on target again on Sunday as Portugal came from behind to beat Norway at home, making it four wins out of four in this window.
Until now, other Portugal players have tended to back Ronaldo, with Bruno Fernandes notably diplomatic. But some are starting to break cover. Vitinha, Ramos’s former Paris Saint-Germain teammate, observed that Portugal’s improvement was ‘the work of the coach… I think beyond the win, the content of our game was great.’ Jesus has offered Ronaldo another meeting to try to resolve the situation, but the Portuguese football federation seems to have accepted how the affair will end, beginning plans for a farewell game for the country’s record scorer. Both Jesus and Ronaldo have indicated they will say more this week.
The truth, as Jonathan Wilson argues, is that this is a break that should have happened long ago. For three tournaments, Ronaldo has undermined an extremely talented Portugal. It is sad that Ronaldo’s career should end this way. But the saddest element is that a great player could be so deluded about his own fading ability that a national team’s hopes and dreams should have been sacrificed to his quest to break goalscoring records.