Portugal Coach Should Apologise to Ronaldo, warns Man United legend
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand warned Portugal coach Jorge Jesus to apologise to Cristiano Ronaldo or risk losing his job, posting the comment in a post on his X after the 41‑year‑old stormed out of the national team camp last week.
Ferdinand's warning
Ferdinand said the coach must come forward publicly and admit he “got this situation wrong”. “The coach has to come out and apologise… otherwise, he’s eventually going to get sacked,” he said, adding that Jesus must tell Ronaldo what he wants.
Row escalates
The dispute began during Portugal’s 2‑1 Nations League win over Norway, when Jesus sent Ronaldo to warm up for about 30 minutes in the second half but never brought him on. Ronaldo felt humiliated and left the camp after a meeting with Jesus and Portuguese Football Federation president Pedro Proença.
Jesus refused to apologise, insisting, “I don’t apologise to anyone. The problem that started all of this was that the player was warming up. I made the decision [not to bring him on]. What do I have to apologise for?”
Ronaldo accuses Jesus of breaking his word, stresses wish to return
Now 72, Jesus left the door open for a return, saying “For me Cris will be in the next squad if he is playing for Al‑Nassr and he wants to return”. He also stressed his authority, adding, “I am the manager, and I call up whomever I want.”
FPF president Proença described Ronaldo as “the greatest player in history” and called the row a misunderstanding to be settled internally.
Portugal have already qualified for the Nations League quarter‑finals and will face Denmark in November.