Cristiano Ronaldo on Tuesday accused Portugal coach Jorge Jesus of breaking his word about giving him game time in Nations League matches, but said he remained available for his country. Jesus left the forward unused on the bench for a Nations League match against Norway. In a statement of nearly 2,000 words, the 41-year-old superstar apologised for walking out on the national team and said he would serve a suspension if necessary. Before the next game with Denmark, he said Ronaldo would not start and in response the 41-year-old walked out of the national team camp.
“I will be available, as I have always been until today, to compete and win for our national team,” Ronaldo said.
Portugal won all four of their Nations League matches and qualified for the quarter-finals with two games to spare. “Despite the absolute breakdown of trust in the head coach’s word… I shouldn’t have done it. The responsibility is mine alone. He agreed and warmed up from half-time, but was not brought on.
Ronaldo said Jesus, who was appointed after Portugal were knocked out of the World Cup Round of 16, had initially presented him with a plan for the international window which included starting the opening and final games at home, but not travelling for the matches in Norway and Denmark. Ahead of the Norway game, Ronaldo said Jesus unexpectedly asked if he was fit to play 30 minutes.
“I owe an apology to my national team teammates for having left the camp,” wrote Ronaldo. Ronaldo also apologised to Portugal supporters, but insisted he had been responding to the veteran coach’s “broken word”. “The head coach failed to keep his word to me,” said Ronaldo, Portugal’s most capped player and all-time top goalscorer. Former Real Madrid and Manchester United forward Ronaldo said he spoke with Jesus after that and agreed with him that the coach would apologise in a news conference ahead of the Denmark game. However, Ronaldo said Jesus’s subsequent press conference was completely different from what was agreed in their conversation, with an “aggressiveness” he had never previously experienced from the coach.
