In Copenhagen, where Portugal’s supporters had crossed borders to fill a corner of Parken, Jorge Jesus chose the result over the noise around his captain. After Portugal’s away victory against Denmark on Thursday, the national-team coach declined to revisit his dispute with Cristiano Ronaldo, insisting that the immediate concern was the win and the next gathering at Porto’s Estádio do Dragão.
“That matters more than anything else that has happened,” Jesus said after the match. “That is what I want to concentrate on: this game and the next one at the Dragão.” Portugal will meet Norway there on Sunday in their final Nations League fixture of the October international window, and Jesus has said he will address Ronaldo’s situation only after that match.
The coach was also asked about reports of jeers as he left Portugal’s Copenhagen hotel, as well as his celebrations with travelling fans inside Parken. Jesus said he had not heard boos from Portuguese supporters and stressed the importance of acknowledging those who make long journeys to follow the side. Having spent six or seven recent years working outside Portugal, he said he understood the particular attachment felt by Portuguese emigrants watching the national team abroad.
A captain, a coach and an unresolved selection issue
The tension has unfolded during Jesus’s first international window in charge. Ronaldo started his debut match as Portugal coach, against Wales, and played 67 minutes. The day before, Jesus had praised the forward as a national symbol, while making clear that selections would remain the responsibility of the coaching staff. The pair had previously spent a year together at Al-Nassr.
The atmosphere changed around the Norway match, when Ronaldo began among the substitutes and Gonçalo Ramos was selected instead. Jesus had signalled the choice beforehand, but the disagreement centred on Ronaldo’s expected role late in the contest. The 40-year-old began warming up shortly after half-time with the other replacements, yet was not introduced. Ramos went on to score the goal that gave Portugal an away win, while Ronaldo left the pitch immediately after the final whistle, visibly frustrated.
Ronaldo’s absence from Tuesday training added to the scrutiny. The president of the Portuguese Football Federation then visited the squad on Wednesday and met both player and coach in an attempt to settle the matter; the meeting was understood to have gone well.
Yet the issue returned at Jesus’s next press conference. Although he initially intended to take only two questions on Ronaldo, he faced six concerning the forward, the Norway game and their relationship. Jesus rejected the suggestion of a wider rift, saying he had planned to use Ronaldo for between 20 and 30 minutes against Norway before the match situation altered his thinking.
He acknowledged one mistake: sending Ronaldo to warm up immediately after the interval. But Jesus again underlined that, regardless of Ronaldo’s stature within Portugal, decisions on who plays remain with the manager. Soon after that press conference, Ronaldo was seen leaving Parken before the pre-match training session, despite Jesus having expected him to train with the squad. The coach had also indicated that Ramos was likely to start again.
Portugal now return home to Porto with a Nations League match still to play and a public explanation deferred until after it. For Jesus, the contest with Norway is both a sporting assignment and the point at which he has promised to speak more fully about the captain whose place in the side has become the defining question of his opening days.
