Ronaldo leaves Portugal training camp after selection snub

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo announced on Wednesday that he had left the team’s training camp in Denmark after coach Jorge Jesus told reporters that the forward would be dropped for their next match.

Ronaldo had been due to train with his teammates at the Parken stadium in Copenhagen on Wednesday but left abruptly after Jesus’s press conference.

The coach had said that Ronaldo, who spent the entire match on the bench against Norway on Sunday, would not start Thursday’s Nations League clash away to Denmark either.

Ronaldo wrote on Instagram: “After the national team coach’s press conference, and following a conversation with the President of the Portuguese Football Federation, I have decided to leave the National Team training camp.

“In due time, I will tell all Portuguese people the truth about the reasons that led to my departure from the national team, to which I have always dedicated myself.

“Now is the time to wish good luck to Portugal and to all my teammates.”

Jesus had insisted earlier that there was no rift between him and Ronaldo, although the 72-year-old coach did acknowledge that his captain had been disappointed to remain on the bench in the side’s Nations League win over Norway.

Following the 2-1 victory in Oslo, Ronaldo went straight to the changing rooms without joining his teammates in acknowledging the Portuguese supporters in the stands.

Jesus told reporters on Wednesday: “There was no incident whatsoever.

“Any player – and I was a player myself… when you spend 20 or 30 minutes warming up and then don’t get on… no one is happy about that.”

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The Portuguese coach added that he had told Ronaldo before the match that he would not be in the starting line-up, but that he might bring him on towards the end of the game.

“Afterwards, as coach, I decided not to bring him on. It’s nothing to make a fuss about,” Jesus added.

The former Benfica boss also explained that Ronaldo had not refused to train on Tuesday, but that he did individual exercises for physical “mobility” and “strengthening”.

Jesus had said that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner would train as normal on Wednesday.

However, despite arriving at the stadium in the team bus, Ronaldo did not join his teammates on the pitch in Copenhagen.

Portuguese media shared a video of him leaving the Parken stadium alongside two members of the backroom staff just after Jesus’s press conference.

Ronaldo is Portugal’s leading goalscorer and most capped player, with 146 goals in 234 appearances.