is this the end of Cristiano Ronaldo's international career with Portugal? | ESPN FC

Right, let me give you my best Portuguese. There you go. That means crisis situation for Portugal. And that's exactly what is happening right now as it relates to Cristiano Ronaldo. So let's recap it, shall we? Because this week so far Thursday things started and Cristiano Ronaldo played in the game against Wales. Saturday though, Jorge Jesus said that he planned for Cristiano Ronaldo to play but he did not start against Norway. Then on Sunday Cristiano Ronaldo wasn't really happy about that so he went straight down the tunnel at the full-time whistle. He didn't join his teammates on the pitch to thank the fans after they beat Norway 2-1. Then Tuesday he posted an image of himself in the national team's training gear alongside a heart emoji with the Portugal flag. However, today he had an emergency meeting with Jorge Jesus and the president of the federation after reportedly missing three training sessions. Well, let's have a listen for what Jorge Jesus had to say at the presser today. It's true that I made a deal with him. Well, I didn't just make a deal with him, I also made a deal with Bruno Fernandes. And I told Cris that the game against Norway and the game against Denmark Cris never trains on the first or second day after the game. Never. He had a year with me. Never. We had the first press conference in Portugal. He also talked about this. Whatever the coach wants. Whether it's to play or to be on the bench. I'm on the bench. And so he never said no to anything. And that's exactly what happened. And I thought that maybe I had made a deal with him. He didn't play the first two games. But maybe I would have needed him in the last few minutes. And since I'm talking about Cris, I'm going to tell you. I had a year working with Cris. It looks like there's a case between me and him. There's no case. In due course, I will tell all the Portuguese people the truth about the reasons that led me to leave the national team, to which I always dedicated myself. Now is the time to wish Portugal and all my teammates good luck, without exception. Oh, I spoke about tangled webs that we weave. And Shaka, we were talking about this off camera and just saying, if this results in the end of Cristiano Ronaldo's international career with his country, it is just a terrible, terrible way to go out. Yes, it is. Given everything that he represents to this game, and in particular to Portugal football, to have it come to this, I think is an incredible disappointment. Are you surprised it's gotten this bad? Yes and no, if I could go with that. I felt that it... So, as you saw Ronaldo progress, and we've said this time and time again, probably dating back to the 2022 World Cup, wanted to know who that manager would be that would leave Ronaldo out, because that time was coming. You could see it in his performances on the park. But you also felt that it was Ronaldo who would dictate that, particularly when with Roberto Martinez, who was in charge of the national team. Jorge Jesus brought in, and the assumption was, well, they work together in Saudi Arabia, and this is just another way to appease Cristiano Ronaldo. Now, Jorge Jesus does, as any manager should, pick his best team, whether it includes the best player in your country's history or not, that's his duty, and I think he did his duty as to be expected. Now, again, and the concern was always about when that moment comes, if it wasn't exclusively Cristiano Ronaldo's decision, you would have a fallout like this. And now you have the best player in Portugal's history and a manager who is highly respected at loggerheads and exchanging press statements and press conferences, and now we're waiting on Instagram posts. It's just become absolutely farcical, and it's farcical for anybody, but given who we're talking about, even more so, and that's where the disappointment comes from. Frank, what do you make of it all? I know you have a flair for the dramatic, but this is not a good look on either. No, it's not, but I think we have to be a little bit patient. I really know what's going on and what really happened, and I think Cristiano will tell us very soon the truth about that story. But you know what? We received two mails today. I received two mails from our producer Mike today, and the first one, I read that Ronaldo was kind of irritated by the fact that he didn't come on at the end of the game against Norway and that he was frustrated, blah, blah, blah. And I said, well, that's just normal. Like any other player, if you're on the bench, you're an international player, you want to be part of it, and you can be frustrated and irritated after a game. That's just normal. I said, well, that's fair. If it's just that problem, that's it. And then I received another email saying that he left. I said, oh, my God, what's going on? I don't understand. That's not possible that we can see an ending like this. That cannot be an ending for a player like him. A player like him has to decide himself, okay, maybe it's the end of it. I say goodbye, thank you, farewell. And then you do like maybe they would do for Messi, a last game tribute for him because he deserved that. That's the only ending you want to see, a celebration. Now it's an escape. And that's very sad. If it is what it is, if everybody is assuming or thinking, it's sad. I don't want to believe that. I still want to believe that there is something happening and they did it for the best of the national team to make sure that they finish that time with the national team in a good way. Gab, what's the percentage chance that this whole situation does eventually lead to the end of Cristiano Ronaldo with the national team? Well, do you mean like as in, is this the last we've seen of Cristiano with the national team? Yeah, percentage, what are you feeling, 50-50? I don't think so. I know, I would say 10-20%. Oh, okay. Look, maybe I'm being naive here. Jorge Jesus is not an easy character, despite the fact that he worked with Cristiano before, obviously. This is not the way to handle it. Cristiano missing, as we heard from the report, missing training sessions. That's not like Cristiano. The fact that the Portuguese FA came out and made a point to tell us that, oh, no, no, he's fully fit, this coach's decision. This leads me to think it can't end this way. I don't want it to end this way for the same reasons that Frank outlined. They have to find a way back, not for him to come back and play every game, but at least have a farewell if this really is, if this is the end. Because I think whatever you think of Cristiano, I know some people love him, some people don't. You can't wipe away his achievements. This is not the way to treat somebody who was so instrumental, not just in Portuguese football, but in world football. Could he be a diva? Could he be a prima donna? Of course, we know that. But precisely because we know that, we have to be straight and honest with him and not humiliate him on his way out. Nothing wrong with being a little diva or a little prima donna. Just saying. Are you talking for yourself? Exactly. I was getting old to that, Frank. All right. Well, for plenty more prima donna and diva behavior, make sure to check out ESPN FC tomorrow, because Craig Burley will be back. It doesn't get more divalicious than that. And they'll be looking at that game between Portugal and Denmark.