‘I still want to play’, Ronaldo breaks silence, knocks coach

Cristiano Ronaldo has spoken out about his recent conflict with Portuguese national team coach Jorge Jesus. The 41-year-old athlete, who is just 21 goals away from reaching 1000 career goals, expressed his desire to continue playing for the national team in a lengthy statement. Ronaldo was left out of Portugal's 2-1 win against Norway in the UEFA Nations League despite being an unused substitute, and he did not join the team on the pitch after the match.

The coach claimed Ronaldo was informed he would not start the match, but Ronaldo accused Jesus of being insincere and breaking promises to him on multiple occasions. The former Benfica coach had initially invited Ronaldo to the training camp, presenting him with a plan for his participation, but Ronaldo refused the proposal of playing the first match and staying in Portugal while the coach traveled to Norway and Denmark.

In the end, Ronaldo played the match against Norway but was substituted, and he later met with Jesus and Simão Coutinho to discuss the situation, agreeing to have Jesus clarify his statements at a press conference.