Jorge Jesus stressed there was never any issue between himself and Cristiano Ronaldo over the Portugal star’s absence from their win over Norway, with the coach insisting his omission was pre-planned and that the record goalscorer had not refused to train ahead of Thursday’s meeting with Denmark.
Portugal’s visit to Parken will take place amid a backdrop of drama after a 2-1 UEFA Nations League victory at Ulleval Stadium, from which Ronaldo was left out.
Ronaldo was replaced in the starting XI by Goncalo Ramos and was not selected to come on as a substitute. The 41-year-old was visibly irritated and marched straight down the tunnel at the final whistle rather than joining his team-mates as they celebrated a fine win with the travelling supporters.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward subsequently did not train with the other unused substitutes on Monday in Malmo, Sweden as Portugal prepared to face Denmark in Copenhagen.
The Al-Nassr star appeared before Tuesday’s training session but was not involved, with the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) explaining that Ronaldo was on a specific training programme for which the Eleda Stadium did not have the right facilities.
Jesus: Ronaldo omission was pre-planned
A Bola reported Ronaldo and Jesus held clear-the-air talks in an effort to resolve their differences but, speaking in his pre-match press conference, Jesus insisted there was never an issue between the two.
Jesus clarified the arrangements for Ronaldo during an extended international break, saying: “Yes, it’s true that I agreed [a plan] with him, but I didn’t agree with him alone.
“We put a plan in place, just as I did with Bruno Fernandes.
“I told Cristiano that I believed he would not play in the Norway and Denmark matches.”
“When we held our first press conference in Portugal, he [Cristiano] himself spoke about this matter.
“He said that it was up to what the coach wanted, whether the coach wanted him to play, sit on the bench, or whatever else.
“So, he didn’t refuse anything at all. That’s exactly what happened. But I’m not going to sit on the bench thinking, ‘After 60 minutes I’ll do this, and after 70 minutes I’ll do that’. That’s not how I work. The match itself will tell me what I need to do.
“I was thinking that perhaps, despite our agreement that he wouldn’t play the first two matches, I might need him in the final few minutes.
“But the match imposed other things on me. It started telling me different things, and that’s why I didn’t bring him on. That’s the reality of it.
“What happened was simply that I told Cris he wouldn’t play in the first two matches, and then during the game I thought: perhaps I’ll need him.
“I asked him to warm up, and afterwards I didn’t bring him on.
“Any player and I was a player myself, who warms up for 20 or 30 minutes and then doesn’t come onto the pitch will feel frustrated. Any player, let alone Cris, given his status. Even if it were Pelé or Maradona, if they warmed up for 30 minutes and then didn’t come on, they would feel frustrated.
“That is what status means. But the rights are equal for everyone.”
Dismissing reports about Ronaldo deliberately skipping training, Jesus added: “He did not refuse to train.
“Cristiano did some work in the gym, did some mobility exercises on the pitch, and then did some additional muscle-strengthening work at the hotel. That’s exactly what happened. He did not refuse to train.
“Today he will train, and if you come and watch the training session, you will see him training, because today is the fourth day, so he will train.
“Sometimes I find it difficult to understand certain things. Do you really think that any player at national-team level could refuse to train? I’m not talking about Portugal only, but any national team.
“Unless he wants to leave and has another program arranged, but simply refusing to train like that? No. That’s what I wanted to clarify.”
Jesus blames media for ‘clear-the-air’ talks
It had also been reported that the tension between Jesus and Ronaldo prompted FPF president Pedro Proenca to travel to Copenhagen for the game.
But Jesus emphatically dismissed the significance of Proenca’s presence, while accusing the media of forcing him to have talks with Ronaldo because of the scale of the coverage around his omission.
“You, so to speak, forced me to speak with Cristiano about an issue that didn’t exist in the first place,” Jesus said. “Because you keep talking about this so much in Portugal, and honestly, I don’t understand what’s going on.
“There was nothing to discuss. And what we talked about was exactly what he said on the first day during our press conference.
“He told me: ‘You decide. If you want me to play, I’ll play. If you don’t want me to play, I won’t play. If you want me to go into the stands, I’ll go into the stands.’
“That’s exactly what happened between us.
“As for the president, it’s completely normal for him to be here. The club president and the federation president should be with the national team. And because of everything that was being said in Portugal, he wanted to know what had happened, right?
“But Cristiano and I had already discussed it after dinner. And the truth is, the problem is that there was never a problem in the first place.”
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