Cristiano Ronaldo has accused Portugal head coach Jorge Jesus of twice breaking his word, setting out his own account of the dispute that led him to leave the national team camp before last week’s Nations League match against Denmark in Copenhagen.
In a lengthy statement, the 41-year-old said Jesus had agreed a plan under which he would sit out the Norway and Denmark fixtures to manage his fitness. On the day of the Norway game, however, the coach told him he would play for 30 minutes. Ronaldo said he warmed up from half-time onwards, watched the minutes tick by and was not called on. “The manager had broken his word to me,” he said.
Portugal’s captain and all-time leading scorer said a subsequent meeting with Jesus, attended by Al-Nassr sporting director Simão Coutinho, produced an agreement for the coach to clarify the events at his next press conference. According to Ronaldo, an eight-point document was prepared stating that he had never demanded playing time, had respected Jesus’s decisions, and that asking him to warm up without bringing him on had been a mistake. Ronaldo said the agreed notes did not require Jesus to apologise, but added that the coach’s public remarks bore no resemblance to their private discussion. “It was the second time he had broken his word to me,” he said. “I decided to leave the training camp without waiting for any further broken promises.”
Jesus, speaking on Sunday after Portugal’s win over Norway, denied that he had made any agreement with the player, although he left the door open for a return. The Portuguese Football Federation did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Ronaldo’s statement.
Ronaldo apologised for failing to greet supporters after the Norway match and for leaving his teammates, accepting that his captaincy made his conduct more serious. “The consequences of my actions must be assessed and punished by the Portuguese Football Federation,” he said.
Despite the rupture, Ronaldo said he was not limiting his international ambitions to a farewell appearance. “If I’m physically fit, playing for my club – scoring goals, I hope – after serving whatever suspension is imposed on me, I’ll be available, as I’ve always been until now, to compete and win for our national team,” he said.