Portugal coach Jesus defends actions after Cristiano Ronaldo's departure

Portugal's national soccer coach Jorge Jesus has defended his actions in the scandal surrounding the departed superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. The coach said he acted with a completely clear conscience. "There are players with a special status, but the rules apply the same to everyone. I have seen it that way throughout my entire career and I will stick to it," said Jesus after the convincing 4-2 away win in the Nations League against Denmark - without the 41-year-old Ronaldo.

For Jesus it was the third win in the third Nations League game with the Portuguese. "The team firmly believes in what they are doing. For me, it was our best game so far. That's normal because we had more time to work," said the 72-year-old during the press conference after the game in Copenhagen.

Because he was only on the bench in the 2-1 win in Norway and was not given a place in the starting eleven against Denmark, Ronaldo left the Portuguese team headquarters on the eve of the Denmark game. He flew to Madrid on a private plane and will probably no longer play for the national team. So far, Ronaldo has played 234 international matches for Portugal, in which he scored 146 goals.

Jorge Jesus emphasized that the team believes in the coach and that the incident with Ronaldo will not cause division. "There's nothing to suggest that the players don't support me. What's important is what we have to do. Things like that happen, but they don't divide the group - and won't divide them," Jesus explained.

From a sporting perspective, the coach has all the arguments on his side. Goncalo Ramos, who was called up to replace the egocentric superstar, scored both on Sunday in Norway and now in the win over Denmark: in Oslo he scored the 2-1 winning goal and in Copenhagen he scored the goal to make it 2-1. Ramos also prepared Joao Cancelo's goal to make it 1-0 in the duel with the Danes.

In any case, the national team no longer seems to need Ronaldo. At both the 2024 European Championships in Germany and the World Cup last summer, the aging attacker only played the role of a follower. In many games it seemed as if his team had to carry him - and not the other way around. And with his departure he made it more than clear how things are going with him and the team spirit. Instead of supporting his colleagues from outside on the field, he preferred a boycott.

But there are also (still) many advocates who do not understand Ronaldo's exclusion by his coach. Piers Morgan is one of them. The British star presenter railed against coach Jesus: "What an arrogant asshole. Jesus was never good enough to play for Portugal and now he enjoys belittling the country's greatest players."