Cristiano Ronaldo spent much of Tuesday evening doing something unusual for a 41-year-old captain under scrutiny: he showed the world the words he says he had already written for his own head coach.

The eight points, set out in his statement, begin politely enough. Jorge Jesus is cast as the author of a season-long plan, Ronaldo as the professional who signed up to it.

“He never questioned my options. He was exemplary, loyal and professional,” the script has the manager tell reporters.

“I want Cristiano in the National Team. In fact I do not want him a little, I want him a lot.”

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Point six is the one everybody is quoting.

“I made a mistake by putting someone of the stature of Pele or Maradona on to warm up and then not putting him in the game.”

That is Ronaldo’s own description of Ronaldo, placed in Jesus’s mouth. Fans and pundits caught it inside minutes.

‘Not even Ronaldo puts himself on Messi’s level’

The mockery spread fast. “The Pele and Maradona part is killing me. Wtf is this?” one widely shared reply read. “Bro wants to have the stature of Pele or Maradona without winning the World Cup,” wrote another. A third went for the obvious cross-reference: “not even Ronaldo puts himself on Messi’s level.”

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The camp that produced the script had fallen apart in Oslo on 27 September. Portugal beat Norway 2-1 to reach the Nations League quarter-finals, with Ronaldo warming up from half-time and never coming on. He left the squad in Copenhagen before the Denmark fixture that followed days later.

Jesus denies the deal

Ronaldo wrote that a video call between him, Portugal director Simao Coutinho, strategist Tiago Craveiro and Jesus had produced an agreement: the manager would open his pre-Denmark press conference on 29 September with the eight points, “trying to end the matter by telling the truth”. When Jesus went off-script, Ronaldo said he walked out.

“It was the second time he had broken his word to me,” the statement read.

Jesus’s version is the opposite. According to Yahoo Sports, the coach said no such agreement was in place and that the door remained open for Ronaldo to return. Jesus was appointed Portugal head coach in July 2026 on a four-year contract, and he has not stepped back from his decision to leave Ronaldo on the bench in Oslo.

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‘One or more farewell matches’

Ronaldo stopped short of announcing an international retirement. He accepted that “the consequences of my actions must be assessed and punished by the Portuguese Football Federation” and said he hopes for “one or more farewell matches” with Portugal once any suspension is served.

Jesus remains in charge of the national team, and the Portuguese Football Federation has yet to announce a sanction.

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