Jesus talks about Cristiano Ronaldo's crisis and the reason for his anger and absence from training

Jorge Jesus, the manager of Portugal, has revealed new details regarding Cristiano Ronaldo's anger after not participating in the national team's match against Norway, confirming that his decision was aimed at protecting both the team and the player.

Jesus stated in comments reported by Portuguese media that he had put a prior plan in place with Cristiano Ronaldo regarding his participation in matches during the international break, explaining: "There was a plan agreed upon between him and me, and after the first match he participated in, he was supposed to not play the next two matches."

The Portuguese coach mentioned considering the possibility of using Cristiano Ronaldo during the match against Norway if the team needed his services, noting that the player was available to participate.

Jesus explained: "I made him warm up for longer than he should have, because he has a status that allows him to do so, and so he doesn't feel that what is happening to him is similar to what is happening with other players, which no one likes, and this is precisely where he got angry with me. But my intention was always to defend the team, as well as to defend him."

When asked if he expected the anger between him and Cristiano Ronaldo to end, he replied: "For me, it's over, and I don't know if it is for him, but I think he will get over it."

"This was the limit of Cristiano Ronaldo's position at that moment, after everything that happened during 30 minutes of warm-up and not entering the match. He was not happy with my decision, and I made the decision as a coach thinking about the team's interest."

The Portuguese coach addressed the statements made by the Denmark coach, who sees that the best version of the Portugal national team comes with Ronaldo. He responded by saying: "I agree with him. Cristiano has the ability to recover from one match to another, and I agree with this at the moment."

Jesus confirmed that there is no real issue between him and Cristiano Ronaldo, saying: "I will say it now, I worked with Cristiano for a year. There is no issue. I have faced problems with many players before, but do not make it an issue that does not exist."

"The player's status does not grant him different rights. The rules are the same for everyone. Status means respecting the player's career, and therefore the coach is careful in his decisions before the match, but once the match begins, things become equal."

He concluded: "Ronaldo did not refuse to train; he worked out in the gym, then did movement training on the pitch, and afterwards did strength work at the hotel. He did not refuse to train and will participate in today's session. Do you think a player in the national team could refuse to train? That is not Cristiano. No one refuses to train unless they want to leave and have other ideas."