Vitinha did not wait to be asked twice about his new head coach. Standing in front of the cameras in Copenhagen, the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder went straight at the question.
“The coach’s work is starting to pay off. You can see it, it was crystal clear today,” he said after the win over Denmark.
The timing is what made the line travel. This was Portugal’s first match since Cristiano Ronaldo walked out of the national-team camp, and the player who had just restored their lead used his platform to thank the coach whose decision had pushed the captain out.
Vitinha, who headed in a Bruno Fernandes cross in the 67th minute to put Portugal 3-2 up, said the result was only part of what he liked about the night.
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“We played an excellent game. Beyond the win, the content of our game was great,” he told reporters.
“I think it was our best display so far.”
“We tried to focus just on the game. I think we gave an incredible response.”
Portugal brush past the drama in Copenhagen
Portugal led after 13 minutes when João Cancelo turned in a Gonçalo Ramos cross, were pegged back by Mikkel Damsgaard, then restored the lead three minutes later through Ramos. Rasmus Højlund pulled Denmark level in the 53rd minute, before Vitinha’s header and João Félix’s late finish settled it at Parken Stadium.
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The result kept Portugal perfect in Group A4 of the UEFA Nations League, where Jorge Jesus’s side are the defending champions.
Jesus: ‘They don’t divide us’
The head coach was asked more about Ronaldo than about his tactics in his press conference. He did not duck the subject.
“There’s no reason for them not to be behind me. What matters is what we have to do,” Jorge Jesus said.
“I know why you asked that question, but things happen, they don’t divide the team, and they won’t divide us.”
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Jesus has publicly insisted all week that he has the dressing room.
“The players are right behind me and my ideas,” he repeated on Thursday night.
Gonçalo Ramos, who has taken on more of the central role Ronaldo occupied, said the controversy “did not influence us”, while Nuno Mendes told reporters the group was “more focused on what we have to do now and on what the coach wants to bring to us”, according to Pulse Sports.
Ronaldo walked out after being benched again
Ronaldo, 41, left the Portugal camp on Wednesday, roughly 24 hours before kick-off in Copenhagen, after Jesus confirmed he would again start on the substitutes’ bench. The forward had already been dropped for the previous match against Norway.
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In an Instagram statement published after his departure, Ronaldo wrote that he had decided to leave “following the national team manager’s press conference, and after a conversation with the President of the Portuguese Football Federation”.
“In due course, I will tell all Portuguese people the truth about the reasons behind my departure,” he promised.
Portugal next host Norway at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto. Vitinha, speaking to reporters in Copenhagen, had a specific wish for the night.
“If Estádio do Dragão is completely full, we will beat Norway 4-0,” he said.
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