Are the generals at odds? Cristiano Ronaldo announces his departure from the national team

In the early morning of October 1, Beijing time, Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo announced on social media that he had left the Portuguese national team training camp.

Ronaldo wrote: “After the press conference of the national team coach and my conversation with the President of the Portuguese Football Association, I decided to leave the national team training camp. I will tell all the Portuguese people the truth about my departure at the appropriate time. I have always devoted myself to the national team. Now is the time to wish Portugal and all my teammates good luck.”

The Portuguese Football Association later confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo had left the team’s training camp in Copenhagen, Denmark, and stated that the remaining 24 selected players of the Portuguese team will continue to gather to prepare for the next UEFA Nations League A match with Denmark and Norway.

Ronaldo’s statement was clearly full of dissatisfaction. The “trigger” of this departure incident occurred in the early morning of September 28th, Beijing time, when the Portuguese team challenged Norway in the UEFA Nations League. In that game, the Portuguese team won 2-1, but Cristiano Ronaldo, who was on the roster, did not play. This was the first time since the last round of the 2008 European Championship group match against the Swiss team (when Portugal had already secured a promotion spot) that he was a substitute but did not play in an official game of the national team.

In fact, Ronaldo once warmed up on the sidelines, but the embarrassment of not playing in the end made him not say goodbye with his teammates after the game, but went straight back to the locker room. Portugal coach Jorge Jesus explained after the game that he had considered letting the five-time Ballon d’Or winner come on “for half an hour,” but changes in the course of the game forced him to change his plan.

The 72-year-old Jesus took over as coach of the Portuguese team after the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It was previously reported that after this “accident”, the chairman of the Portuguese Football Association went to Denmark to help the two parties ease relations, and Ronaldo also reconciled with Jesus for a time.

At the pre-match press conference between Portugal and Denmark on September 30, Jesus stated that Ronaldo would not participate in the game against Norway and Denmark. He said: “I fully understand his physical condition and know how to arrange it. This is what I did when I was in Saudi Arabia (Jesus once coached the Riyadh Victory Team) Ronaldo, reporter’s note). Whenever a game is played for three days, Ronaldo rarely plays in a row. In addition, Ronaldo never participates in training on the first and second days after the game. He has been working with me for a year and has always been like this.” Jesus also emphasized that there is “no problem” between him and Ronaldo.

However, shortly after the press conference, Ronaldo issued a statement about leaving the team.