Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal walkout divides a nation as Jorge Jesus asserts control

The drama surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo and the national team has naturally become the biggest story here in Portugal. It led Wednesday evening’s news broadcasts and made the front page of virtually every major newspaper. For some, Ronaldo was right to walk out on the squad days after spending half an hour warming up against Norway without being brought on in an apparent provocation by Jorge Jesus. For others, the forward’s behaviour was intolerable and his departure a matter of time, particularly once he found himself face to face with such a strong-minded head coach.

Ronaldo has promised to tell his side of the story soon, and Jesus will speak on Thursday night after the Nations League match in Denmark. A confrontation between these two huge personalities had been simmering in the background. Jesus was inevitably asked in his first press conference with the team in July how his relationship with Ronaldo would work. Jesus, who coached Ronaldo at Al-Nassr, answered categorically.

Related: Football Daily | An impressive new entry for the Cristiano Ronaldo catalogue of petulance

“Cris will never be a problem for the national team or for me,” he said, insisting he had Ronaldo’s temperament under control. The harmony between coach and player did not last long.

In Portugal, reaction has inevitably split into two camps. In many ways this is a repeat of the debate over Ronaldo’s automatic place in the starting XI at this summer’s World Cup, and Roberto Martínez’s decision to keep the captain on the pitch for the full 90 minutes in all but one of the five matches – despite there being no obvious tactical or physical explanation for it. Even when Ronaldo came off in the last 32 against Croatia, it was not until the 81st minute.

Ronaldo’s fans are firmly behind him, defending him fiercely on social media. Much of the general public, though, feels the player has turned his back on the national team. That was the message splashed in big letters across the front page of O Jogo, one of Portugal’s leading sports newspapers.

Across the Portuguese media, most newspapers and commentators have sided with the view that Ronaldo behaved selfishly. There are, however, some voices – particularly in newspapers and television outlets in which Ronaldo is a shareholder – who have turned their criticism towards Jesus, accusing him of ingratitude and of indefensibly going back on his word.

But what actually caused the controversy? According to Jesus, he and Ronaldo had a verbal agreement that the 41-year-old would not start against Norway last Sunday, three days after he played for 67 minutes against Wales in the coach’s first match, but would come on. During the game, which Portugal won 2-1, those plans changed: Ronaldo remained an unused substitute, Jesus making the decision for tactical reasons. Ronaldo reportedly viewed the incident as a humiliation.

The first signs of the breakdown came immediately after the final whistle when Ronaldo left the pitch and did not join his teammates as they saluted their supporters in Oslo. Ronaldo’s frustration with Jesus reportedly reached astronomical levels during the manager’s press conference on Wednesday.

Asked about keeping Ronaldo on the bench, Jesus asserted absolute control, in essence making clear that Ronaldo did not run the team and would not be able to change or influence the tactics. It was a transparent message to Ronaldo – and to the Portuguese football federation (FPF): the manager is in charge.

“I can promise whatever I want,” the 72-year-old said. “I’m the coach and I told the player that he wasn’t going to play. I told him I would take him to the bench and that, if I needed him for 30 minutes, he would play. But I saw the game differently, so he didn’t come on. It won’t be Cristiano, or any other player, who changes my ideas as a coach. Never. Neither him nor anyone else. Not even a president. Never. Zero.”

Jesus also stated his intention to start Gonçalo Ramos rather than Ronaldo in Monday’s game.

What happened next is what everyone has seen. Ronaldo abruptly left the team hotel, boarded a plane and posted on social media, promising to reveal the truth soon.

Some believe there has been a decline in Ronaldo’s communication since he split almost four years ago from the agent Jorge Mendes after giving an interview to Piers Morgan that triggered his departure from Manchester United. The Ronaldo-Mendes friendship and family connection reportedly remain intact, but the player is managed by a team he assembled himself. Some have questioned whether he is surrounded by too many yes-men, without enough people willing or able to tell him when something risks creating a negative image.

Once again, the narrative around Portugal’s national team is dominated by controversy surrounding Ronaldo. He is at risk of an FPF suspension of between one and six months, as well as a fine, for breaching its disciplinary code.

In the absence of both men’s accounts, rumours are spreading like wildfire. Some publications are claiming Ronaldo will never return to the national team. After 234 appearances over the past 23 years and 146 goals, is this how Ronaldo will say goodbye to his country?