Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo announced on Wednesday that he has left the team’s training camp in Denmark.
He made the decision after coach Jorge Jesus told reporters that he would drop the striker for Portugal’s next match.
Ronaldo had planned to train with his team-mates at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen on Wednesday. He left abruptly after Jesus finished his press conference.
Jesus said that Ronaldo would not start Thursday’s Nations League game away to Denmark. Ronaldo spent the entire match on the bench against Norway on Sunday.
Ronaldo explained his decision on Instagram.
“Following the national team coach’s press conference, and after having a conversation with the Portuguese Football Federation president, I decided to leave the national team’s training camp,” he wrote.
“In due course, I will tell the truth to all the Portuguese people about my reasons for leaving the national team, to which I have always been dedicated.
“Now is time to wish good luck to Portugal and to all my team-mates, without exception.”
Earlier, Jesus insisted that there was no rift between him and Ronaldo. The 72-year-old coach did acknowledge that his captain felt disappointed to stay on the bench during Portugal’s Nations League win over Norway.
Ronaldo’s exit triggered a wave of memes on social media and a furious reaction from his sister Elma Aveiro. She criticised the Portuguese people on Instagram.
“They don’t deserve to have the best of anything,” she said.
“We are envious, scornful, and ignorant, and we deserve to return to the mediocrity that defined us in the pre-CR7 era of football.”
After Portugal’s 2-1 victory in Oslo, Ronaldo went straight to the changing rooms. He did not join his team-mates in acknowledging the Portuguese supporters in the stands.
Ronaldo, 41, said that this summer that this season would “probably (be) my last year in football”.
He is Portugal’s leading goalscorer and most-capped player, with 146 goals in 234 appearances.
