In Copenhagen, on the eve of Portugal’s meeting with Denmark, a family conversation became part of a wider rupture around Cristiano Ronaldo. The forward has issued a statement accusing Jorge Jesus of breaking his trust, while his mother, Dolores Aveiro, has spoken of the distress that preceded Ronaldo’s decision to leave the Portugal camp.
Aveiro said she had “cried a little” over the situation and urged her son not to act in haste. Ronaldo, she recalled, told her: “Mum, do not worry. I will tell the truth when we are all together.” Her reply was to ask him to stay calm and find a way through the episode, although she accepted that he ultimately chose otherwise.
“I gave him all my support, but it was no use,” she said, describing a decision made with his mind already set.
A mother’s defence of Portugal’s captain
The dispute has revived a familiar argument in Portuguese football: the place still held by a player whose international career has carried both extraordinary achievement and constant scrutiny. Aveiro believes Ronaldo has not received the recognition he deserves from his own country, calling him Portugal’s hero and stressing how much he has given to the national side.
“They do not value Cristiano as they should,” she said. “But he has given a great deal to Portugal and he will always be there.”
She also admitted sadness at the manner of his departure from the squad in the Danish capital. In her view, the moment denied him the dignified exit she had hoped for, leaving him to depart by what she described as the smaller door rather than the grand one.
For all the hurt in her remarks, Aveiro retained faith that the episode would eventually turn in her son’s favour. “It was a shock,” she said. “But God will take care of it.”
