<\/amp-img><\/amp-iframe><\/div>\nAfter Jesus left the forward unused on the bench for a Nations League match against Norway. Then before the next game with Denmark said Ronaldo would not start and the 41-year-old walked out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI owe an apology to my national team teammates for having left the camp,\u201d wrote Ronaldo.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite the absolute breakdown of trust in the head coach\u2019s word… I shouldn\u2019t have done it. The responsibility is mine alone.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ronaldo also apologised to supporters, while explaining his decision. <\/p>\n
\u201cI apologise to the Portuguese people once again, but a broken word has, for me, a defining impact,\u201d said Ronaldo.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt that, from that moment on, my presence would only harm the group, and I did what I always said I would do if I didn\u2019t feel useful: I picked up my bags and left.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ronaldo said new Portugal coach Jesus 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 Nations League matches in Norway and Denmark.<\/p>\n
The Al-Nassr superstar rejected that proposal, saying it would set a poor example for the captain to remain in Portugal while his teammates travelled.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the Norway game, Ronaldo said Jesus unexpectedly asked if he was fit to play 30 minutes. He agreed and warmed up from half-time, without being brought on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe head coach failed to keep his word to me,\u201d said Ronaldo, Portugal\u2019s most capped player and all-time top goalscorer.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
However Ronaldo said Jesus\u2019s subsequent press conference was completely different from what was agreed in their conversation, with an \u201caggressiveness\u201d he had never previously experienced from the coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the second time he failed to keep his word. I decided to leave the camp without waiting for any further broken promises,\u201d wrote Ronaldo.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Portugal’s forward #07 Cristiano Ronaldo warms up ahead of the 2026 World Cup round of 16 football match between Portugal and Spain at the Dallas Stadium in Arlington on July 6, 2026. (Photo by Thomas COEX \/ AFP)<\/span>Source: AFP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe striker said he would serve any \u201csuspension that is imposed\u201d on him and accepted he should be punished for his actions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe consequence of this act of mine must be assessed and punished by the Portuguese Football Federation,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand that the punishment should not have mitigating circumstances. I\u2019m not just any player, I\u2019m the team captain, and that is an aggravating factor.\u201d Portugal won all four of their Nations League matches and qualified for the quarter-finals with two games to spare.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cristiano Ronaldo opened the door for a return to the Portuguese national team on Tuesday and apologised for his walkout, while also accusing coach Jorge Jesus of twice breaking his word. \u201cI will be available, as I have always been until today, to compete and win for our national team,\u201d said Ronaldo in a statement. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":266176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-266175","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}