Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent social media posts say a lot about what’s going on with Portugal.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Instagram recently ‘liked’ a video that breaks down his dramatic exit from the Portugal national team camp.
Ronaldo left the team after Portugal’s coach, Jorge Jesus, gave a press conference following their 2-1 Nations League win over Norway. Ronaldo hadn’t played, even though he warmed up for 20-30 minutes. Jesus said he might bring him on in the second half but didn’t, and later said there was no issue between them. Ronaldo promised to share the real story “in time.”
The whole situation was talked about on Sportv, a Brazilian sports channel, by former Brazil player Felipe Melo. Translated by Diario AS, Melo said he felt Ronaldo wasn’t treated with enough respect compared to how Argentina treats Lionel Messi. He said, “I see more respect from opponents when they play against Cristiano Ronaldo. It’s wrong… nobody matches Ronaldo. You can’t just let him leave like nothing happened.” Melo also mentioned Denmark’s striker Rasmus Hojlund, who seemed to have a tense moment with Jesus after Denmark’s 4-2 loss.
The video post has been liked by over 200,000 people since Friday, including from Ronaldo’s official account. It’s not clear if Ronaldo liked it himself, but it suggests that Melo’s opinions might reflect those close to the Al Nassr star.
Ronaldo has only spoken about this once, confirming his decision to leave the national team on Wednesday. In an Instagram statement, he said, “After the National Team coach’s press conference and a talk with the Portuguese Football Federation President, I decided to leave the camp. I will explain the reasons behind my departure in time. For now, I wish all the best to Portugal and my teammates.”
Ronaldo’s friend and reporter Edu Aguirre shared that Ronaldo felt ‘betrayed’ because Jesus had promised to apologize for keeping him on the bench but never did. This pushed Ronaldo to leave.
Ronaldo’s sister, Elma dos Santos Aveiro, also spoke out on Instagram saying, “The national team needed better organization. The Portuguese media needed more professionalism and fewer guesses. As for the Portuguese people… sadly, they don’t appreciate the best in anything. We’re envious and narrow-minded, and we deserve to go back to how football was before CR7. Thank you for everything, CR7!”