Cristiano Ronaldo’s future with Portugal has been thrown into uncertainty after the 41-year-old announced his retirement from international football, despite recently expressing his willingness to return to the national team.
The football star disclosed his decision in an Instagram post on Thursday, bringing an apparent end to a Portugal career in which he became the country’s all-time leading goalscorer.
The announcement comes weeks after Ronaldo was involved in a dispute with the national team’s coaching staff, raising questions about whether his retirement is linked to the disagreement.
Start tomorrow informed
Save your place for the morning brief. We’ll start emailing when delivery goes live.
Free. Confirm by email. Unsubscribe anytime.
Ronaldo had reportedly left Portugal’s camp in Copenhagen ahead of a Nations League match against Denmark following a disagreement with coach Jorge Jesus.
The tension followed his omission from the starting line-up for an earlier match against Norway. Ronaldo had claimed Jesus broke his word to him twice, but the coach denied making any such arrangement.
The Portuguese Football Federation’s Disciplinary Council subsequently handed the forward a 30-day ban and a €255 fine, ruling that he had deliberately breached the team’s code of conduct.
Ronaldo later expressed regret over leaving the camp without his team-mates and failing to acknowledge supporters during the Norway match. He also indicated that he would be available for selection after serving his suspension.
Federation president Pedro Proença had equally said the body wanted the forward back in the squad once the disciplinary matter was resolved.
Thursday’s announcement, therefore, marks a significant shift from his earlier position, although the details of his Instagram statement were not available in the report.
Neither the federation nor Jesus had publicly responded to the development at the time of reporting, while it remained unclear whether Ronaldo’s decision was final.
Discussion0