Uncertainty surrounds Cristiano Ronaldo's future with the Portugal national team after his sudden departure from the camp

Uncertainty surrounded the future of the international participation of Saudi Al-Nasr and Portuguese national team player Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday, following his sudden departure from his country's national team's training camp in Copenhagen, shortly after coach Jorge Jesus admitted that there were tensions between the two parties.

The departure of Ronaldo, 41 years old, came one day before Portugal faced Denmark in the European Nations League on Thursday, which sparked great reactions within Portugal and also in Saudi Arabia, where the player leads the Al-Nasr team in the Saudi Roshen League.

In his first reaction, Ronaldo said in a statement on Instagram that he made the decision following Jesus' press conference and a conversation with Pedro Proenca, president of the Portuguese Football Federation, adding that he would reveal "the truth at the appropriate time."

“Following the press conference of the national team coach, and after a conversation with the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, I have decided to leave the national team training camp,” he wrote.

"In due time, I will tell all Portuguese the truth about the reasons behind my departure from the national team, to which I have always been fully committed," he added on Instagram.

Ronaldo continued, "Now is the time to wish Portugal and all my teammates, without exception, all the best."

For its part, the Portuguese Federation confirmed Ronaldo's departure from the camp, but indicated that preparations for the Denmark match on Thursday and the Norway match in Portugal on Sunday are continuing, as planned with the 24 players.

Al-Ittihad added, “The entire team remains fully focused on the upcoming benefits of the national team and achieving the desired goals,” according to what was reported by Reuters.

Which one will leave?

The incident raised questions about whether one of the longest international careers in the history of Cristiano Ronaldo’s football with the Portuguese national team is coming to an end, or whether coach Jesus’ career will be very short and he will leave coaching Portugal after only two matches in taking charge.

Jesus had taken over the job, succeeding Roberto Martinez, following the disappointing results in the last World Cup, and the Portugal national team arrived at the hotel in Denmark without both Ronaldo and Jesus, while the whereabouts of each of them remained unknown.

But Ronaldo's private plane left Madrid Airport at 7:49 pm on Wednesday local time, heading to Copenhagen.

According to the records of the Flight Radar 24 website, which the BBC viewed, the Bombardier Global Express plane returned to Madrid from Copenhagen after Ronaldo announced his departure from the national team, at approximately 11:30 pm local time in Spain. The plane’s flight recorded the largest direct follow-up from the site’s users, as more than 15,000 users were following the plane on the site per minute.

Several Portuguese media outlets reported that Ronaldo left the Parken Stadium minutes after Jesus completed his speech to reporters, and the Portuguese newspaper A Bola published a video clip showing Ronaldo leaving the stadium on board a car belonging to the Portuguese Federation, shortly after Jesus announced to reporters that the striker would train with the squad.

Jesus denied that Ronaldo had refused to train and urged journalists not to create a crisis. Jesus said before the training period, "He did not refuse. He will train today. This is the fourth day, so he will train. And he did not refuse to go to training. This is impossible. Can you believe that? Not Cristiano."

Jesus confirmed that nothing had happened, although he confirmed speaking with Ronaldo.

He said, "They forced me to talk to Cristiano about an issue that did not exist in the first place. There was no reason to talk."

He continued, "He told me: You make the decision. If I want to play, I will play, and if I want to be in the stands, I will go there."

Ronaldo said in a press conference early last week that the media has been trying to “kill” him for years, indicating that he may leave “today” if the coach does not want him in the squad.

Ronaldo did not participate in Portugal's 2-1 win away to Norway last Sunday, after Jesus told him that he would bring him on from the bench before finally deciding not to include him.

Saudi interaction

Ronaldo is the historical top scorer for Portugal with 146 goals, and the most involved with the national team with 234 matches, and now he plays for the Saudi team Al-Nassr, which he moved to during the winter transfer period for the 2022-2023 season, in a free transfer deal, so a large number of Arab users, especially the Saudis, interacted with these events.

Saudi sports journalist, Khaled Al-Shenaif, commented on the events from a different angle, which is that Ronaldo will not achieve his dream of scoring 1,000 international goals, and perhaps “he will not appear with the Portugal national team again.” He wrote on the

Tweeters criticized coach Jesus and the way he dealt with Ronaldo, and a user posted a video from a group of clips of Ronaldo's anger on the field with his teammates because they ignore him, do not cooperate with him, and do not send him balls even though he is directly in front of the goal and can score.

He wrote on