Cristiano Ronaldo has left Portugal’s national team camp.And nobody really knows how this story ends yet.
The Portuguese Football Federation confirmed Ronaldo’s departure on September 30, after days of questions surrounding his relationship with new national team coach Jorge Jesus.
Things started getting awkward after Portugal’s 2 to 1 win over Norway.
Ronaldo spent the entire match on the bench and was not brought on as a substitute.
He then missed group training sessions, although Jesus publicly denied there had been any major incident between them.
Then Wednesday happened.
Jesus told reporters that no player would change his decisions as coach and confirmed Gonçalo Ramos would start against Denmark.
Not long afterwards, Ronaldo left the camp.
The 41 year old later confirmed his decision himself, saying he had spoken with Portuguese Football Federation president Pedro Proença before leaving.
And he added one sentence guaranteed to keep football Twitter busy:
He said that “in due course” he would explain the truth behind his decision.
For now, that explanation has not arrived.
Portugal’s federation says the squad will continue preparing for its upcoming matches with the remaining 24 players.
One thing is also important: Ronaldo has not announced his retirement from international football.
There is plenty of speculation about what his departure means for his future with Portugal, but right now, that is all it is.
What we actually know is much simpler.
Ronaldo was benched.Tension followed.He left camp.
And now everyone is waiting for his side of the story.
Football has entered its “I’ll explain everything later” era.
