Cristiano Ronaldo explains his dispute with Jorge Jesus

Cristiano Ronaldo, captain of Portugal, has spoken out in an official statement about his dispute with national-team coach Jorge Jesus. He sets out the reasons for the crisis between them. The statement was published on Tuesday, according to Ronaldo’s account as reported by Portuguese newspaper A Bola.

The dispute comes amid a sequence that also saw the 41-year-old forward leave Portugal’s training camp before the match against Denmark, having missed the previous game against Norway in the Nations League.

In his account, Ronaldo says that, a few days after an initial exchange, he received a call from the new coach, who wanted to meet him. He says Jesus assured him during their meeting that he was counting on him and considered his presence essential to the project. The coach also told him he would play the first two matches and the last one, with three or four changes in each game for physical reasons.

Ronaldo says Jesus had proposed that he play the opening match, remain in Portugal and then rejoin the team before the match at Estádio do Dragão. He says that option would have amounted to special treatment and would not have set a good example. “Winning is always good, and in Portugal, for my country, it is best,” he says.

Jesus says he devised a plan for Cristiano’s season with the national team on his own, and that the player accepted it. He adds that he wants Cristiano in the national team. Ronaldo, meanwhile, describes as unjustified the aggressive remarks he says he heard during a meeting. He concludes: “If I had to do it again today, I wouldn’t.”