Cristiano Ronaldo left Portugal camp after feeling betrayed by Jorge Jesus, says close friend

Cristiano Ronaldo left Portugal’s training camp after feeling “betrayed” by manager Jorge Jesus, according to Spanish journalist and close friend Edo Aguirre.

Ronaldo departed on Wednesday, hours after Jesus said there was no problem between him and the Portugal captain.

The dispute began when Ronaldo remained on the substitutes’ bench throughout Portugal’s 2-1 win over Norway. The decision reportedly angered the Al-Nassr forward, who then refused to take part in training after the match.

Ronaldo later held talks with Jesus and the situation appeared to have been resolved. However, in a news conference before Portugal’s match against Denmark, Jesus said neither a player nor anyone else in football would change his ideas.

Those comments prompted Ronaldo to leave the squad, Aguirre said.

Speaking on the El Chiringuito programme, Aguirre claimed Jesus had apologised to Ronaldo privately and promised to repeat that apology publicly at Wednesday’s news conference before the Denmark game. Instead, Aguirre said, the manager had chosen to appear strong and failed to honour his commitment.

“A meeting was held on Tuesday night between the president of the federation, the manager and Cristiano,” Aguirre said, according to Portuguese newspaper Record.

“Jesus apologised to Cristiano for ignoring him by making him warm up for 30 minutes against Norway without bringing him on. He did not stop at apologising privately; he also promised to apologise publicly and admit his mistake in front of everyone.”

Aguirre said that promise was the reason Ronaldo reacted so strongly to Jesus’ subsequent comments.

“That was Jesus’ promise to Cristiano. Then he went to the news conference and told a series of lies that nobody believed,” he said.

“That is why Cristiano exploded with anger, because he felt betrayed. There is no other explanation.”

Aguirre described the sequence of events as a breach of trust between the player and manager.

“It is as simple as this,” he said. “Your manager comes to you privately and says: ‘Look, this is what happened, you understand me. OK, I did not handle the situation well, we are in this together, I am sorry. If there is a news conference, I will explain everything, I will apologise, do not worry, everything will be fine, everything will be resolved.’

“Then, 12 hours later, you go to the news conference and leave Cristiano exactly as he was. Worse still, you act harshly and say that you are the person in charge and Cristiano is just another player.

“Go home and move on. That is why I say it was a betrayal.”