Cristiano Ronaldo revealed the reasons for leaving the Portugal national team camp

Cristiano Ronaldo explained why he left the Portugal national team camp

Portugal national team forward and captain Cristiano Ronaldo shared his thoughts on the situation in the national team. According to him, Portugal national team head coach Jorge Jesus did not keep his promises.

For reference, the 41-year-old football player left the national team camp after the head coach did not field him in the Nations League match against Norway on September 27. Following this, reports emerged that the forward had ended his career with the national team.

"During lunch on the day of the match in Norway, the assistant coach came to the table where the team was eating and said that the head coach wanted to speak with me.

The coach's question of whether I was ready to play for 30 minutes was completely unexpected for me. I was fully focused on recovery, communicating with my teammates as usual, and thought I would not be playing that day. I had no objections to this.

This request was not part of my recovery and training plan. Because I had only planned to play on the 4th at the Dragão Stadium. But, of course, I agreed. He told me to be ready because I would play for 30 minutes. Everyone knows the rest. After the break, I did the warm-up exercises. The minutes were passing, but no one was calling me.

The coach broke the promise he made to me.

At the end of the match, I only wanted our team to win and to be left alone. I did not go to the fans to greet them. I am solely responsible for this mistake. I should not have done that.

48 hours later, a conversation took place between me, the coach, and Simão Coutinho (Al-Nassr sporting director). Because he was the one who participated in our conversations back in August as well. It was a serious and very open conversation. We spoke without hiding anything.

We agreed that there was only one way to put an end to the situation: the coach had to repeat at the press conference what he had told me in the presence of Simão Coutinho.

The agreement was simple. The coach had to start the press conference with this topic and try to close the matter by telling the truth.

He had to say that I had never asked to be fielded even for a few minutes, and that he himself, not anyone else, had proposed the plan regarding my participation in the camp. He also had to admit that if he ultimately did not intend to field me, sending me to warm up was a mistake. He also had to say that if a similar situation occurred again, he would not do it."