Ronaldo's side of the story! The real reasons behind the Portugal walkout revealed
A day after Cristiano Ronaldo's stunning departure from the Portugal camp, the captain's version of events has finally surfaced, and it paints a very different picture from what has been said publicly.
Details: According to Marca, Ronaldo never demanded to play every match for Portugal. The agreement with Jorge Jesus was that the 41 year old would feature in two of the four fixtures during this international break, and the captain accepted it without any problem. The conflict erupted when Jesus first told Ronaldo he would play in the next two games and then changed his mind, leaving him on the bench for the entire 2:1 win over Norway before confirming Gonçalo Ramos would start against Denmark. Cristiano reportedly feels used and disrespected by the federation, which convinced him not to retire after the World Cup by promising full respect for his role until 2027.
The timeline now reads like a tragedy of crossed promises. Ronaldo started the 1:0 win over Wales on September 24 and was substituted in the 67th minute, then spent the whole match in Oslo warming up, having, according to widespread reports, been assured he would come on and earn his 235th cap. Jesus himself later admitted it was a mistake to keep the captain warming up for so long without using him, while insisting: “I can promise whatever I want, I'm the coach”. Spanish journalist Edu Aguirre has gone even further, claiming Jesus apologised to Ronaldo privately and vowed to repeat it publicly, an apology that never arrived at the press conference. Hours after that briefing, Ronaldo left Parken, issued a statement promising to “tell the Portuguese people the truth”, and boarded a plane home despite Jesus and federation president Pedro Proença chasing him all the way to Copenhagen airport. Jesus, for his part, responded late on Thursday with a calm jab of his own, telling SportTV he is “completely relaxed, completely clear in my conscience” and that “after the game on Sunday we can talk about everything”. Two versions, one broken relationship, and a Portugal team trying to beat Denmark while its greatest ever player watches from afar.
It's worth noting that Ronaldo remains the all time leading scorer and appearance maker in men's international football, with 146 goals in 234 caps, and stands on 979 career goals overall, 21 short of the mythical 1000 mark he is chasing in what he has called his final season.
Reminder: He chased Ronaldo to the airport! Jorge Jesus made one last attempt to stop Cristiano from leaving
Miguel Solomons
Dailysports's expert
