Portugal coach Jorge Jesus said on Wednesday that there is no problem between him and Cristiano Ronaldo. The 72-year-old coach did admit that his captain was unhappy about being on the bench during the Nations League win against Norway.
“There was no incident whatsoever,” Jesus said at a press conference before Thursday’s Nations League match against Denmark in Copenhagen.
After Portugal’s 2-1 win over Norway on Sunday in Oslo, Ronaldo went straight to the changing rooms. He did not join his teammates to greet the Portuguese fans in the stands.
“Any player, and I was a player myself… when you spend 20 or 30 minutes warming up and then don’t get on… no one is happy about that,” Jesus explained on Wednesday.
The coach added that he had informed Ronaldo before the match that he would not start, but he might bring him in later. “Afterwards, as coach, I decided not to bring him on. It’s nothing to make a fuss about,” Jesus said.
Jesus also clarified that Ronaldo did not refuse to train on Tuesday, as some local media reported. Instead, he had to do individual exercises for physical “mobility” and “strengthening.”
The coach shared that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner would train normally on Thursday. For the match against Denmark, he plans to start AC Milan striker Goncalo Ramos, who scored the winning goal against Norway.
“If everything goes according to plan, it will be Goncalo who plays,” he said. He added about Ronaldo, “If I need him, he’ll come on. If I don’t need him, he won’t.”
At 41, Ronaldo said this summer that this season would “probably (be) my last year in football.”
He is Portugal’s all-time top scorer and most capped player, with 146 goals in 234 matches.
Drop your comment
No comments yet — be the first to drop the gist 👇