Cristiano Ronaldo, captain of the Portugal national team, has broken his silence to explain his dramatic departure from the squad, accusing head coach Jorge Jesus of breaking promises. The 41-year-old forward stressed, however, that he is not retiring from international football, according to infohub.kz.
According to Ronaldo, he and Jesus had agreed on a clear plan for his playing time and workload before the season began. The match against Norway was not part of that plan, but on game day the coach unexpectedly asked the forward to be ready to play 30 minutes. In the end, the player warmed up for the entire second half but never took the field. Ronaldo said the coach had broken his word for the second time.
Media reports say that before his departure, the two sides agreed that Jesus would publicly present a mutually agreed version at a press conference and put the matter to rest. However, in Ronaldo's view, the coach's remarks were aggressive and arrogant, and his words differed drastically from what had been discussed privately. That, according to Ronaldo, was the reason for his exit from the training camp.
Ronaldo apologised to his teammates and Portuguese fans for leaving early, admitting that as captain he had made a mistake. He said the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) should punish him without any mitigating circumstances.
The forward denied rumours of retirement and noted that after the 2026 World Cup, he was personally asked to stay by federation president Pedro Proença and by Jesus himself. Cristiano said that once any possible suspension expires, he is ready to play and win for Portugal again if he is in good physical shape at Al-Nassr.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that the official social media pages of the Portugal national football team suffered a massive loss of audience. Due to the high-profile scandal and Cristiano Ronaldo's departure from the national team, millions of people unfollowed the accounts.
Recall that Ronaldo left the Portugal national team's training camp on the eve of the UEFA Nations League match against Denmark. The 41-year-old forward announced his decision on Instagram, promising to explain the reasons for his departure later.