Lothar Matthäus called Ronaldo's departure from the Portugal national team «shameful»

A harsh assessment from a former rival

Former Germany national team player Lothar Matthäus has sharply criticized the way Cristiano Ronaldo's career with the Portugal national team came to an end. Matthäus's remarks were quoted by Sky Sport, and were noted by Gazeta.Ru. «The end of his national team career and the last few weeks in general were unworthy and extremely shameful. Both Ronaldo himself and the Portuguese Football Federation are to blame for this,» Matthäus said.

Conflict with the coach and an unauthorized departure

The criticism was prompted by a conflict within the national team during the international break. Ronaldo did not appear in the Nations League match against Norway by decision of coach Jorge Jesus, after which, according to the report, he missed the team's last three training sessions. At a press conference, Jesus did not guarantee the 41-year-old forward a place in the lineup for the game against Denmark — and Ronaldo headed to the airport, from where he flew out on his private plane, leaving the team's camp without permission.

What lies behind this finale

The scale of Ronaldo's stature makes the situation especially resonant: he remains the world record holder for goals and appearances for a national team — 146 goals in 233 official matches. Portugal's best result at World Cups remains fourth place in 2006, when Ronaldo was already playing for the national team. At the same time, as Gazeta.Ru notes, Jorge Jesus had previously asked Ronaldo to continue playing for the national team — meaning the coach's public position diverges from the described course of the conflict. The report does not cite any official statements about the end of his national team career from either the player himself or the federation.