The key facts
- Ronaldo announced his departure one day before the squad announcement for the matches against Denmark and Wales
- Formally there were no obstacles to a return: the suspension expired on October 30 and the forward was on the extended list
- According to AS, reconciliation attempts with Jesus, mediated by Proenca, yielded no result
Departure on the eve of the squad announcement
Cristiano Ronaldo announced his departure from the Portugal national team just one day before head coach Jorge Jesus was due to name the squad for the November Nations League matches. This is reported by the Spanish outlet AS, cited by Life.ru. Notably, the 41-year-old forward remained a candidate for a return to the national team until the very end: Jesus included him in the preliminary list for the games against Denmark on November 14 and Wales on November 17, with the final squad to be announced on November 6.
Formally, the path to a return was open
As AS notes, there were no longer any obstacles to the captain's return: the 30-day suspension for leaving the national team's camp without permission ended on October 30, and the player himself was on the extended list of candidates. Nevertheless, one day before the squad announcement, Ronaldo put an end to his international career.
The conflict and the failed reconciliation
The conflict flared up during the previous Portugal training camp. Ronaldo was left on the bench in the match against Norway despite a lengthy warm-up, and then left the national team's camp early ahead of the game against Denmark. According to AS, the player believed that Jesus had broken the agreements reached between them. Relations were never fully normalized afterward: Portuguese Football Federation president Pedro Proenca tried to act as a mediator and bring the captain back to the team, calling what had happened a
