Elma Aveiro posted after watching Ronaldo spend ninety minutes on the bench in Oslo, and before Jorge Jesus confirmed the same seat for him in Copenhagen.

The post, shared by Fabrizio Romano and reproduced across Portuguese and international outlets, opened with a line directed at the national-team setup.

“CR7 deserved more respect. The National Team deserved better structure. Portuguese journalism deserved more competence and less speculation.”

Then the sharpest passage, aimed at the Portuguese public.

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“As for the Portuguese people, well… they don’t deserve the best in anything. We are envious, dismissive, ignorant, and we deserve to go back to the mediocrity we always were in pre-CR7 football.”

She signed off with “Thank you for everything, CR7! You deserved more!”, framed by the phrase “Enough said”.

90 minutes on the bench in Oslo

The row started on Tuesday 29 September, when Jesus left Ronaldo as an unused substitute for the entirety of Portugal’s 2-1 win over Norway at Ullevaal Stadion. João Félix opened the scoring on 17 minutes, Erling Haaland equalised after a Diogo Costa clearance went wrong, and Gonçalo Ramos won it late.

Jesus explained his thinking afterwards.

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“My plan was to use him in the second half, but the course of the game dictated otherwise,” he told reporters, according to Goal.

The 41-year-old went straight down the tunnel at the final whistle rather than join his team-mates in applauding the travelling fans. Pressed on why, Jesus added: “I can’t read his thoughts, but I will know when I speak to him.”

Jesus repeats the plan, Ronaldo walks

The second half of the story came at Jesus’s press conference in Copenhagen. The head coach, who was appointed in July on a contract running to the 2030 World Cup, said that Ronaldo would again not start on Thursday and that Ramos would lead the line.

Hours later, Ronaldo posted a statement saying he was leaving the camp.

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“Following the national team coach’s press conference and after speaking with the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, I have decided to leave the national team training camp.”

“When the time is right, I will tell the truth to all the people of Portugal about why I am leaving the national team.”

He stopped short of announcing retirement from international football. The Portuguese Football Federation said the remaining 24 players would continue their preparations.

Portugal face Denmark without their captain

Jesus and the squad he has left face Denmark at Parken on Thursday, with kick-off at 8:45pm local time. Portugal top Group D with six points from their first two matches; Denmark are third on three.

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