The key facts

  • The Russian national team said farewell to Ronaldo on its Telegram channel, noting six matches against his team
  • Ronaldo won Euro 2016 with Portugal and the Nations League twice
  • In October, the footballer left the national team's camp without permission after a conflict with Jorge Jesus

The Russian national team's farewell

The Russian national team reacted to Cristiano Ronaldo's decision to end his career with the Portugal national team. In its Telegram channel the team wrote: “Ronaldo has ended his career with the Portugal national team. Cristiano played six matches against our team. Obrigado, lenda! (Thank you, legend!)”. The message was published on the official channel of the Russian national team.

His record with Portugal

With the Portugal national team, Ronaldo won the 2016 European Championship. In 2004, he reached the final of the home Euro with the team, where the Portuguese lost to Greece 0:1. In addition, the player has two Nations League titles and bronze at the 2017 Confederations Cup.

Conflict with the coach in October

The decision to end his international career came after a conflict with Portugal's head coach Jorge Jesus during the break for the October matches. As Gazeta.Ru reported, 41-year-old Ronaldo did not play in the Nations League match against Norway by the coach's decision, missed the national team's last three training sessions, and after a press conference at which Jesus did not guarantee him a place in the lineup for the game against Denmark, headed to the airport and flew off on his private plane.

An award from the fans

Shortly before these events, Ronaldo thanked the fans after winning the “Golden Ball of All Time” vote — this was reported by Gazeta.Press.