Ronaldo leaves Portugal training camp after coach drops him from upcoming match

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo announced on Wednesday that he had left the team's training camp in Denmark after coach Jorge Jesus told reporters that the striker would be dropped for their next match.

Ronaldo had been due to train with his teammates at the Parken stadium in Copenhagen on Wednesday but left abruptly after Jesus's press conference.

The veteran coach had said that Ronaldo, who spent the entire match on the bench against Norway on Sunday, would not start Thursday's Nations League clash away to Denmark either.

"Following the national team coach's press conference, and after having a conversation with the Portuguese Football Federation president, I decided to leave the national team's training camp," Ronaldo wrote on Instagram.

"In due course, I will tell the truth to all the Portuguese people about my reasons for leaving the national team, to which I have always been dedicated."

"Now is time to wish good luck to Portugal and to all my teammates, without exception."

Reuters confirmed that Ronaldo's private jet left Madrid airport at 7:49pm local time en route to Copenhagen and is scheduled to return to the Spanish capital at 11:30pm local time.

Earlier Jesus insisted there had been no rift between him and Ronaldo, although the 72-year-old acknowledged his captain had been disappointed to remain on the bench in the side's Nations League win over Norway.

'No incident'

Following the 2-1 victory in Oslo, Ronaldo went straight to the changing rooms without joining his teammates in acknowledging the Portuguese supporters in the stands.

"There was no incident whatsoever," Jesus told reporters.

"Any player – and I was a player myself ... when you spend 20 or 30 minutes warming up and then don't get on ... no one is happy about that," Jesus said on Wednesday.

The Portuguese coach added that he had told Ronaldo before the match that he would not be in the starting line-up, but that he might bring him on towards the end of the game.

"Afterwards, as coach, I decided not to bring him on. It's nothing to make a fuss about," Jesus insisted.

The former Benfica boss also explained that Ronaldo had not refused to train on Tuesday, as some Portuguese media outlets had suggested, but that he had needed to do individual exercises for physical "mobility" and "strengthening".

Jesus had said that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner would train as normal on Wednesday. But despite arriving at the stadium on the team bus, Ronaldo did not join his teammates on the pitch in Copenhagen.

Portuguese media shared a video of him leaving the Parken stadium alongside two members of the backroom staff, just after Jesus's press conference.

Just before Ronaldo's social media post, the Portuguese federation had released a brief statement merely confirming that the former Real Madrid, Manchester United and Juventus player had not trained.

Jesus had said earlier that for the Denmark match he again intended to start with AC Milan striker Goncalo Ramos, who scored the winner against the Norwegians.

"If everything goes according to plan, it will be Goncalo who plays," he said. Regarding Ronaldo, he added: "If I need him, he'll come on. If I don't need him, he won't."

At 41, Ronaldo announced this summer that this season would "probably (be) my last year in football".

He is Portugal's leading goalscorer and most capped player, with 146 goals in 234 appearances.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)