Portugal’s national team camp was thrown into an unexpected situation on Wednesday after Cristiano Ronaldo left the squad in Copenhagen ahead of Thursday’s Nations League meeting with Denmark.
What happened between Portugal coach and Ronaldo?
Ronaldo did not feature in Portugal’s 2-1 victory over Norway on Sunday and has not trained with the rest of the squad since then. The veteran forward has not publicly announced his retirement, meaning his future with the national team remains uncertain. The Al Nassr forward added that he would eventually provide an explanation for his decision and insisted that he remained committed to Portugal. “In due course, I will tell all the Portuguese people the truth about the reasons that led me to leave the national team, to which I always dedicated myself. He then wished the team and his teammates well ahead of the Denmark clash. For now, speculation surrounding the end of Ronaldo’s Portugal career remains just that. He was also absent from Wednesday’s session before reportedly leaving the stadium where the team was preparing for the Denmark fixture. The developments fueled speculation about tension between Ronaldo and Jesus.
“After the press conference of the national team, and following a conversation with the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, I have made the decision to leave the national team training camp,” the Portugal no.7 wrote. “There was no incident whatsoever,” Jesus said. However, the Portugal coach subsequently rejected suggestions of a crisis involving his captain and said Ronaldo would train with the squad on Wednesday.
