@giantkebabThis is the truth about what has happened with Jorge Jesús and why Cristiano Ronaldo states he will not return to the Portugal national team while he remains head coach. The story starts after the 2026 World Cup when Ronaldo prepared a letter for the Portuguese people regarding his definitive departure, yet on the flight back from the United States the FPF President asked him to reconsider leaving and insisted he continue. That same president asked Ronaldo's opinion on the current head coach name alongside other unrevealed candidates, and Ronaldo indicated that appointing the current head coach was the correct choice. He expressed genuine happiness when the current head coach was presented as the right option because it felt like the proper path forward. A few days later the new head coach requested an in-person meeting with Ronaldo at the end of his vacation and they met at Cidade do Futebol where the head coach stated Ronaldo's presence was fundamental to his project. During that meeting at Cidade do Futebol the head coach proposed a plan for Ronaldo to play the first and last matches with three or four substitutions per match to manage his physical load. At that moment the head coach suggested Ronaldo might not travel to Norway and Denmark but stay in Portugal to rejoin before the Dragão match instead of traveling with the squad. Ronaldo immediately rejected the proposal to stay in Portugal rather than travel with the team because he felt it would be a bad example to stop captaining the team just to avoid playing abroad. Simão Coutinho, sporting director of Al Nassr, was present during this conversation and had been informed by the head coach throughout the previous season and helped secure his signing in 2025. On the eve of the camp start the head coach visited Ronaldo's house in Lisbon for another conversation where all principles agreed upon in August were maintained during the pre-camp visit. Ronaldo played the match at Alvalade and was substituted without issue, handing the captain's armband to Bruno Fernandes during the Alvalade match far from imagining those could be his final steps as captain. An assistant approached Ronaldo's lunch table on the day of the Norway match to say the head coach wanted to speak with him and the head coach asked if Ronaldo was in condition to play 30 minutes. This request was outside the physical recovery and training plan since Ronaldo was only going to play on the 4th at the Dragão but he said yes anyway. Everyone knows the rest: he warmed up from halftime, watched the minutes go by, and they did not call him. The head coach had broken his word with me and I can't imagine the fear they felt with no escape.

@giantkebabThis is the truth about what has happened with Jorge Jesús and why Cristiano Ronaldo states he will not return to the Portugal national team while he remains head coach. The story starts after the 2026 World Cup when Ronaldo prepared a letter for the Portuguese people regarding his definitive departure, yet on the flight back from the United States the FPF President asked him to reconsider leaving and insisted he continue. That same president asked Ronaldo's opinion on the current head coach name alongside other unrevealed candidates, and Ronaldo indicated that appointing the current head coach was the correct choice. He expressed genuine happiness when the current head coach was presented as the right option because it felt like the proper path forward. A few days later the new head coach requested an in-person meeting with Ronaldo at the end of his vacation and they met at Cidade do Futebol where the head coach stated Ronaldo's presence was fundamental to his project. During that meeting at Cidade do Futebol the head coach proposed a plan for Ronaldo to play the first and last matches with three or four substitutions per match to manage his physical load. At that moment the head coach suggested Ronaldo might not travel to Norway and Denmark but stay in Portugal to rejoin before the Dragão match instead of traveling with the squad. Ronaldo immediately rejected the proposal to stay in Portugal rather than travel with the team because he felt it would be a bad example to stop captaining the team just to avoid playing abroad. Simão Coutinho, sporting director of Al Nassr, was present during this conversation and had been informed by the head coach throughout the previous season and helped secure his signing in 2025. On the eve of the camp start the head coach visited Ronaldo's house in Lisbon for another conversation where all principles agreed upon in August were maintained during the pre-camp visit. Ronaldo played the match at Alvalade and was substituted without issue, handing the captain's armband to Bruno Fernandes during the Alvalade match far from imagining those could be his final steps as captain. An assistant approached Ronaldo's lunch table on the day of the Norway match to say the head coach wanted to speak with him and the head coach asked if Ronaldo was in condition to play 30 minutes. This request was outside the physical recovery and training plan since Ronaldo was only going to play on the 4th at the Dragão but he said yes anyway. Everyone knows the rest: he warmed up from halftime, watched the minutes go by, and they did not call him. The head coach had broken his word with me and I can't imagine the fear they felt with no escape.