While Argentine Lionel Messi prepares to bid farewell to the champions after his successful international career, Cristiano Ronaldo's career may end as he runs away towards the players' exit tunnel after the final whistle of a match in which he did not participate.
After the last World Cup, Argentina captain Messi, 39 years old, decided to retire from international football, while Ronaldo, 41 years old, chose to continue representing the Portugal national team.
However, there is a possibility that Messi will continue his career with the Argentina national team for a few more days, as a friendly match at home against Benin on Tuesday is scheduled to be his final match.
Ronaldo felt angry after he was forced to warm up before the Norway match and then did not participate during the match in the European Nations League. Then he left his country’s national team camp after he discovered that he would not start against Denmark either.
Ronaldo, the Saudi Al-Nasr striker, holds two world records, the first by scoring 146 international goals, and the second by participating in 234 international matches with Portugal.
But now there has been a public disagreement between him and the new coach, Jorge Jesus, who is also an interesting personality and does not back down from his position, which leaves Ronaldo facing a decision that is not an easy one.
Jesus stressed that he welcomes Ronaldo's return to the team if he wishes to do so, and talks between Ronaldo, his representatives and the Portuguese Football Federation are continuing in search of a solution.
Although Ronaldo cannot play forever, he did not expect his international career to end this way.
His fans remain loyal to him, with social media filled with posts supporting Ronaldo and criticizing Jesus, but on the other hand, there has been criticism from fans and much of the Portuguese media for what they consider to be “selfish behaviour” from Ronaldo.
Before Portugal's next match against Denmark in November, a big decision looms on the horizon for one of the greatest players in world history.
Everything happened very quickly.
After the World Cup, Portugal replaced coach Roberto Martinez with Jesus, who was Ronaldo's coach at Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia last season (and won the league championship with him there).
Less than two weeks ago, Ronaldo said: “I had a conversation with our president, and with our coach. I still believe that I can help the national team achieve what they want.”
Things were still looking good when Ronaldo started in the 1-0 win over Wales.
But before the Norway match, Jesus told Ronaldo that he would be on the bench in the next match, and even after he was asked to warm up during the match, he did not participate, and remained on the bench in a Portugal match for the first time in 18 years.
“He was asked to warm up for practically the entire second half,” said columnist Guillem Balage, who wrote a book about Ronaldo in 2015.
He added: "In football there are implicit (unwritten) rules: You cannot do this with (stars) Pele, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, or Cristiano, right? This is what (Ronaldo) sees, which is that you do not do it with this type of player."
As the final whistle sounded, Ronaldo headed into the tunnel instead of going to the fans with his teammates.
Jesus said that there was no dispute, but confirmed that Cristiano would not start the next match against Denmark either.
At that moment, Ronaldo left the national team camp, writing on social media: “In due time, I will tell the Portuguese people the full facts about the reasons for my departure from the national team, to which I have always been loyal.”
The President of the Portuguese Football Federation, Pedro Proenca, traveled to Copenhagen and arrived at the airport at 02:30 in the morning to calm the atmosphere with Ronaldo, but he failed.
He said at the time: “He is in the national team based on sporting merit, and this should not be in doubt. We must return the favor to Ronaldo.”
After beating Norway on Sunday in their final Nations League match in Ronaldo's absence again (a third in a row), Jesus said: "If he wants, he will return to the national team. We can talk before the next call-up, but Chris is the one who will decide. He is the one who must decide how he wants to end his time with the national team."
On many billboards in the capital, Lisbon, posters praising Ronaldo and criticizing Jesus were displayed.
It said in Portuguese: “Thank you, Cristiano Ronaldo, for everything you have done for Portugal. You will always be our leader. Jorge Jesus is not up to responsibility. He is insensitive, does not have leadership skills, and has an inflated ego.”
One of them was placed next to the Estadio da Luz, home of Benfica, which Jesus led to three league titles.
But in the Denmark match, some fans wore T-shirts reading “We love you, Jesus,” while others wore head-to-toe Ronaldo props.
By the way, Denmark striker Rasmus Hojlund celebrated his goal in the manner of his idol Ronaldo's famous "siuuu" celebration - something he had previously done when scoring against Portugal.
Portuguese newspapers expressed different views.
The Record newspaper, in which Ronaldo owns shares, said: “Ronaldo leaves after a clash with Jesus,” while the Journal de Noticias described what happened as “the end of a historical era.”
The newspaper Abula said: “A sad farewell,” while the newspaper Ojogo chose the headline: “CR7 (Cristiano Ronaldo 7) turns his back on the national team.”
Meanwhile, videos were posted online of angry fans tearing up Portugal jerseys.
Jesus and Proenza were booed as they left a building in Copenhagen.
But it is known that many foreign fans support Portugal simply because of Ronaldo's presence, so they do not necessarily express the opinions of real Portuguese fans.
Maria Ribeiro, a Portugal fan from Lisbon, said: “It's very difficult for all of us as fans. We all love him but it's gone beyond normal. It's hard to imagine Portugal without Ronaldo but maybe this is the right time. There's a lot of arguments between us.”
Ronaldo is still searching for a historic achievement by scoring a thousand goals to crown his career, but will he be forced to achieve this through clubs in Saudi Arabia?
In the last World Cup, Portugal was eliminated in the round of 16. Ronaldo scored only three goals, while his old rival Messi succeeded in scoring eight goals and assisting four other goals, to lead Argentina to the World Cup final.
According to records, the two biggest victories in Portuguese history, 9-0 over Luxembourg and 9-1 against Armenia, during which Ronaldo was absent due to suspension.
“How much recognition does it take? This is a question that Portuguese fans have been asking for years now,” says journalist Marcos Alves, who covers Portugal.
Alves added: "The dramatic series that occurs whenever the 41-year-old striker (Ronaldo) comes, has reached the point of impatience."
He also monitored Cristiano's disagreements in the team, and said: “Among the last five Portugal coaches, Ronaldo had problems with four of them - Carlos Queiroz, Paulo Pinto, Fernando Santos and now Jesus. "This is too much of a distraction at a time when Portugal has perhaps its best generation ever."
