The Portuguese public appear to have turned against Cristiano Ronaldo with an overwhelming majority backing Jorge Jesus in the row that has engulfed the national team.
The severity of the matter was demonstrated by reports Prime Minister Luís Montenegro has spoken to the two warring factions in a bid to resolve the differences that led to Ronaldo walking out on the Portugal squad on the eve of Thursday’s Nations League game against Denmark.
The dispute started at the weekend when Jesus promised to bring Ronaldo off the bench towards the end of the game with Norway only to change his mind due to the match situation.
That angered the 41-year-old, who then skipped training on Monday and Tuesday. Showdown talks were held on Tuesday night with Portuguese Football Federation president Pedro Proenca also involved. Ronaldo’s ally, Spanish journalist Edu Aguirre, claims Jesus apologised to Ronaldo personally and said he would make a public apology at Wednesday’s press conference.
However, after being grilled about the situation by the media, Jesus then said Ronaldo would again be on the bench against Denmark and that he would be treated the same way as any other player.
Aguirre claims Ronaldo saw this as a betrayal and immediately summoned his private jet to Copenhagen to pick him up.
The issue has dominated the news cycle in Portugal and it seems Jesus’ handling of Ronaldo and his ego has won the fans over. Despite the fact Ronaldo has won the most caps for the country (234) and scored the most goals (146) – both global records as well – and played a key role in their first major tournament win at Euro 2016, it seems he has lost the affection of the public.
A Bola vote favours Jesus, not Ronaldo
Leading sports newspaper A Bola carried out a poll of its readers with the bulk blaming Ronaldo for the fall-out.
Under the question, who is at fault, the readership voted:
Cristiano Ronaldo – 77.4%
Jorge Jesus – 14.5%
Pedro Proenca – 8.1%
The matter will more than likely bring an end to Ronaldo’s international career unless some middle ground is found.
But his age means it would need to be swift, otherwise Ronaldo’s glittering spell on the global stage will grind to an underwhelming finish.
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