Cristiano Ronaldo is not a Portuguese football player and star, but rather he became a national issue after he suddenly left his country's national team camp, one day before the Nations League match against Denmark, scheduled for Saturday evening (October 1, 2026). Shortly afterwards, his sister Elma Aveiro (53 years old) broke her silence, and her post was strongly worded.
Elma Aveiro posted a text to someone else via the “Story” feature on Instagram, and commented on it, saying: “Everything has been said.” The post read: "CR7 deserves more respect. The national team deserves better organisation. The Portuguese press deserves more efficiency and less speculation." She added: "As for the Portuguese, well... they don't deserve to have the best at anything. We are envious, despised and ignorant, and we deserve to return to that state of mediocrity that we always lived in football before CR7. Thank you for everything, CR7 you deserved more."
Ronaldo later explained that he made his decision following the press conference of national team coach Jorge Jesus, and after a conversation with the President of the Portuguese Football Federation, Pedro Proenca. But Jesus said after the Ronaldo crisis: “No incident occurred at all.”
Ronaldo wrote on Instagram in a mysterious message: "After the press conference of the national coach, and following a conversation with the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, I have made the decision to leave the national team camp. In due time, I will reveal to all Portuguese the truth about the reasons that prompted me to leave the national team, to which I have always devoted myself with full commitment."
The likely reason behind the outbreak of the crisis is that Jesus had previously announced that Ronaldo, after sitting on the bench during the 2-1 win over Norway, would also not be in the starting lineup against Denmark. The coach justified his decision by having a pre-established plan for the players to participate, stressing at the same time that there were no differences between him and the Portuguese star.
The Spanish newspaper Marca reported that attempts to contain the Cristiano Ronaldo crisis within the Portugal national team camp failed, after coach Jorge Jesus and the head of the Portuguese Football Association, Pedro Proenca, quickly went to Copenhagen Airport to try to persuade the national team captain to retract his decision to leave the camp.
According to Marca, Ronaldo was scheduled to participate in the training session that was held yesterday, Wednesday, at Parken Stadium, but he left before it started and returned to the team’s residence to collect his belongings before heading to the airport to take a private plane to Madrid. The newspaper added that Jesus and Proenza followed Ronaldo to the airport in a final attempt to persuade him to stay with the national team in Copenhagen, but they did not succeed in changing his position.
The disciplinary regulations of the Portuguese Football Association stipulate that any player who leaves the national team camp without permission may be subject to suspension from representing the national team for a period ranging between one month and six months. There was no immediate comment from the Portuguese Federation regarding what was reported by the Spanish newspaper.
Just hours before Ronaldo's departure, Jesus had confirmed that the national team captain would participate in Wednesday's training, denying the existence of any dispute between them. The Portuguese coach revealed that he held a special meeting with Ronaldo on Tuesday, following the Al-Nasr striker’s absence from the match against Norway, which Portugal won 2-1 last Sunday. Jesus added that Ronaldo was angry with him, but he confirmed that the matter had become a thing of the past for him and his page had been closed.
The audience compares him with Messi
The official list of the Portuguese national team, published by the European Football Association (UEFA) on the morning of the match, confirmed that Rafael Leao will wear the number 7 shirt against Denmark at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen. Thus, the shirt was given to another player without Ronaldo announcing his retirement from international football, in clear contradiction to the way the Argentine Federation dealt with Lionel Messi after his decision to end his career with the “Tango” national team.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni took the opposite position. Before the friendly match against Bolivia, it was announced that the No. 10 shirt would remain vacant until Messi played his farewell match against Benin, scheduled for next Tuesday, in honor of the Argentine star.
"Until the Leo match takes place, we will not give the number 10 shirt to any player," Scaloni said. "And then we will see." Thus, Argentina kept the shirt that Messi had worn for years, at least until his farewell match.
