CR7 breaks silence
- Thread starter Scrabby
- Start date
He say he will have many farewell games when he retires. Don't think he will get one like Messi, probably charity games with old players like his old man utd teammates or old Portugal teammates. Because I doubt the current batch likes him very much. Or he can do one with al nassr
LWZ
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will be interesting to see which of his ex teammates don't turn up
hoolala
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Sure anot???
Medicated Oil
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When will the manager be sacked ?
haiyata
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TL;DR: Ronaldo says the national coach broke his word twice: first by having him warm up in Norway without playing (against their agreed plan), and again by not telling the truth at the press conference as privately promised. Feeling betrayed, he left camp, apologizes to fans and teammates for his reaction, asks the FPF to punish him without leniency, but states he still wants to compete for Portugal after serving any suspension - rejecting mere farewell tributes.
As promised, I have decided to recount, in the first person and directly, the circumstances surrounding the latest National Team camp.
After the 2026 World Cup, I prepared a letter to the Portuguese people, which I still keep, with the words I want to address to them when I definitively leave our team.
At the end of the competition, right on the flight back from the United States, the Federation President asked and insisted that I reconsider my decision to leave because the FPF wanted me to continue.
Shortly after, he asked for my opinion on the name of the current National Team Coach, whom he was considering, alongside other names he did not reveal to me.
I told the Federation President that, in my opinion, it would be the right choice.
Therefore, on the day the current National Team Coach was presented, I was genuinely happy with the choice. It was the right option, as the results are proving.
A few days later, I received initial contact from the new national coach saying he would like to meet with me in person. I agreed, and we scheduled it for the end of my vacation.
We met at the City of Football, where my club was holding its pre-season training camp.
The Coach told me that day that he was counting on me and that my presence was fundamental to his project. He immediately presented me with a plan for my participation. He told me I would play the first game and the last, and that for physical management reasons, he would always make three to four changes per match.
At that point, he raised the possibility of me not traveling with the National Team to Norway and Denmark. He proposed that I play the first game and stay in Portugal, only rejoining the squad before the match at the Dragão stadium.
I immediately refused this proposal. It seemed obvious to me that I could not accept it. Not playing the matches abroad would not stop me from captaining our team. That privilege of staying behind in Portugal would not set a good example.
The Coach ended up agreeing with my analysis.
This conversation was attended by Simão Coutinho, Sporting Director of Al Nassr, the person to whom the current coach reported throughout last season and one of those responsible for his signing by the club in 2025.
On the eve of the training camp's start, the Coach came to my home in Lisbon, at his request, to have another conversation with me. The talk was calm, and all the principles agreed upon in August were maintained.
I played the match at Alvalade, and despite being substituted, I caused no issues. I placed the armband on Bruno Fernandes myself, far from imagining that I might be taking my final steps as an athlete and captain of the National Team. The most important thing for me that day was our victory. Winning is always good; winning in Portugal and for my Country is even better.
At lunchtime on the day of the match in Norway, an assistant coach came to the table where the group was eating and informed me that the Head Coach wanted to speak with me. To my absolute surprise, the coach asked if I was fit to play 30 minutes. I was fully focused on my physical recovery, integrated with my teammates as always, and expecting not to play that day. I had no problem with it.
This request went against my planned physical recovery and training schedule—since I was only scheduled to play on the 4th at the Dragão—but obviously, I said yes. He replied that I should get ready because I would play 30 minutes.
Everyone knows the rest. I warmed up from halftime onwards, watched the minutes tick by, and was never called upon.
The Coach had broken his word to me.
At the end of the match, I just wanted everything to end with a victory and to be left alone. I did not go over to greet the fans. That failure is solely my responsibility and should not have happened. I apologize to the Portuguese who supported us so intensely there, I apologize to the fans, and I apologize to anyone who, though not Portuguese, may have traveled to see me and whom I might have disappointed.
Forty-eight hours later, we had a meeting: myself, the Coach, and Simão Coutinho, since he had been present during our August conversations.
It was a deep, very frank moment, without any filters.
We agreed there was only one way to close this "case": the Coach had to repeat what he had just told me in private, in front of Simão Coutinho, but in the Press Room.
What was agreed upon was simple: the Coach would begin the press conference by addressing this topic, seeking to put the matter to rest by telling the truth. He would state that I never asked to play any minutes, that it was the Coach—and no one else—who proposed the plan for this camp, and that it was a mistake to have me warm up only to not use me, and that if it happened again, he wouldn't do it.
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