Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo explained the reasons behind his scandalous departure from the Portugal national team camp and accused head coach Jorge Jesus of breaking promises. At the same time, the 41-year-old forward stressed that he is not ending his career with the national team. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

Cristiano said that before the start of the season he and Jesus had agreed on a clear plan for his playing time and workload. The match against Norway was not part of it, but on the day of the game the coach unexpectedly asked Ronaldo to be ready to play 30 minutes. As a result, the forward warmed up for the entire second half but never came onto the pitch. According to the player, the coach broke his word for the second time.

As the media report, on the eve of the departure the sides agreed that Jesus would publicly announce the agreed version at a press conference and close the matter. However, in Ronaldo's view, the coach's speech was aggressive and arrogant, and his words differed radically from what had been said face to face. That was the reason for leaving the camp.

Ronaldo apologized to his teammates and Portuguese fans for the early departure, admitting that as captain he had made a mistake. He stated that the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) should punish him without any mitigating circumstances.

The forward denied rumors of retirement and noted that after the 2026 World Cup he was personally asked to stay by federation head Pedro Proença and by Jesus himself. Cristiano stated that as soon as the term of his possible suspension expires, he is ready to play and win for Portugal again if he is in good physical shape at Al-Nassr.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano)

Earlier, Kursiv wrote that the official pages of the Portugal national football team faced a powerful outflow of audience on social media. Due to the loud scandal and Cristiano Ronaldo's departure from the national team, millions of people unsubscribed from the accounts.

Recall that Ronaldo left the Portugal national team training camp on the eve of the UEFA Nations League match against Denmark. The 41-year-old forward announced his decision on Instagram, promising to explain the reasons for his departure later.