Cristiano Ronaldo has not trained with the Portugal squad since Sunday, and his continued absence has fuelled speculation that the 41-year-old could miss his country’s Nations League match in Denmark on Thursday amid reports of a rift with head coach Jorge Jesus.
Ronaldo was left on the bench for Portugal’s 2-1 win at Norway on Sunday. The Portuguese Football Federation said he has not practised with the team since then and has been doing only gym work.
Portuguese media claimed that federation president Pedro Proença had to travel to meet with Ronaldo and Jesus after reports the forward was unhappy about being left out against Norway. The federation confirmed only that Proença was with the squad, which has been preparing in Copenhagen for the game against Denmark.
Jesus had said before the Norway match that he did not want to overuse Ronaldo during an unusually long international break in which Portugal play four games in 11 days. He added that he planned to give Ronaldo minutes against Norway, but said the circumstances of the match kept the veteran from being used. After the victory, Jesus said he would “talk to him”, responding to reports that Ronaldo was upset.
Ronaldo remains the all-time leading scorer in men’s international football, with 146 goals for Portugal, and is pursuing the milestone of 1,000 career goals, a target he is currently 21 goals short of. He started in Portugal’s 1-0 win over Wales last week and was substituted in the 67th minute. On Tuesday he posted a photo on Instagram of himself wearing the Portugal tracksuit, accompanied by the Portuguese flag and a heart emoji.
Portugal lead Group A4 of the Nations League with six points from two matches, three points ahead of Denmark and Norway. Wales are last with no points. Portugal will host Norway on Sunday.