Ronaldo Accepts Punishment But Denies Retirement, Blames Coach for Broken Promises

Cristiano Ronaldo will not retire from international football, but he believes he deserves to be punished for walking out on Portugal's Nations League camp last week. The 41-year-old captain left after sitting unused against Norway and learning he would not start the following match against Denmark, a sequence of events he says violated an explicit agreement with head coach Jorge Jesus.

In a statement running nearly two thousand words, Ronaldo laid out his version of what happened. Jesus had promised, he said, that he would skip both the Norway and Denmark matches to manage his fitness. But on the day of the Norway game, the coach told him he would play for thirty minutes. Ronaldo warmed up at halftime, watched the clock, and never entered the field. "The manager had broken his word to me," he wrote. The two men met afterward and, according to Ronaldo, agreed on an eight-point document that Jesus would present to the media clarifying the situation—that Ronaldo had never demanded playing time, had respected the coach's decisions, and that asking someone of Ronaldo's caliber to warm up without using him had been a mistake.

When Jesus held his news conference, Ronaldo said, none of that agreement appeared. Instead, the coach spoke with what Ronaldo described as aggression and a "high and mighty" attitude that bore no resemblance to their private conversation the day before. This was the second time, Ronaldo wrote, that Jesus had broken his word. He left the camp without waiting for further broken promises.

Ronaldo's record with Portugal is extraordinary. He has scored 146 goals in 234 appearances—both world records—and helped the country win Euro 2016 and the Nations League twice. He is the team's most-capped player. Yet his statement carried a tone of contrition alongside its accusations. He said he should not have left the camp, that the responsibility was his alone, and that he owed apologies to his teammates and to Portugal's supporters. "A broken word has, for me, a defining impact," he wrote. He also said the Portuguese Football Federation should assess and punish his actions without reduction.

Ronaldo had considered retiring from international football after Portugal's exit from this summer's World Cup at the last-16 stage. He had even written a letter to fans with the words he wanted to say when he announced it. But the federation's president, Pedro Proenca, urged him to reconsider on the flight home from the United States, and Ronaldo decided to stay. Now, after his suspension ends, he said he will be available to play if he is physically fit, playing regularly for his club Al-Nassr, and scoring goals.

Jesus, for his part, said there was no rift with the captain and that the door remained open for Ronaldo's return. Portugal won both matches without him—against Norway and Denmark—and will play again in November in their final Nations League group games against Denmark and Wales. Ronaldo has returned to training in Saudi Arabia. His career goal total stands at 979 across all clubs and country; he continues his pursuit of a record one thousand.