Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly felt betrayed by Portugal head coach Jorge Jesus after a private conversation over his treatment during the team’s latest Nations League campaign.
Cristiano Ronaldo was left on the bench during Portugal’s win over Norway and was sent out to warm up for around 30 minutes without eventually being introduced. The situation reportedly left the former Manchester United winger furious and contributed to his decision to leave the national team camp.
Spanish TV journalist Edu Aguirre has now revealed details of what allegedly happened behind the scenes.
Ronaldo furious after Jesus broke promise
According to Aguirre, Jesus apologised to Cristiano Ronaldo during a private meeting that also involved the president of the Portuguese Football Federation. The manager allegedly admitted he had made a mistake by asking Ronaldo to warm up for so long without bringing him onto the pitch.
Jesus reportedly also promised to publicly apologise during his next press conference and explain what had happened.
However, Aguirre claims that Ronaldo was angered when Jesus did not follow through with that promise.
“Cristiano feels betrayed. Jorge apologized to him privately, promised to do the same publicly, and then did the opposite,” Aguirre said on El Chiringuito.
The journalist added that Ronaldo felt the comments made publicly by Jesus were untrue and were designed to reinforce the idea that the veteran forward was simply another member of the squad.
“That made Cristiano angry. Cristiano feels betrayed,” Aguirre added.
Ronaldo has made 234 appearances for Portugal and scored 146 goals, making him the national team’s all-time leading appearance maker and goalscorer.
He also had a stellar career at Manchester United during his two spells, winning all the major honours. His exit from Manchester United for the second time was also a bizarre one after a fallout with Erik ten Hag. The departure ended in a bombshell interview with Piers Morgan, with many judging it as Cristiano Ronaldo tarnishing his United status by going that route.
