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Get you up to speed: Will Cristiano Ronaldo play for Portugal after a row with coach Jesus?
Cristiano Ronaldo left the Portugal national team training camp in Copenhagen after head coach Jorge Jesus announced he would not start in the upcoming match against Denmark. Ronaldo’s departure occurred shortly after a press conference on Wednesday, marking his second consecutive absence from the team in the Nations League.
Jorge Jesus stated that Cristiano Ronaldo could return to the national team if he chooses to, suggesting ongoing communication regarding his status. Portugal’s next matches in the Nations League are scheduled for November 14 and November 17, concluding the league phase for the team.
Portugal head coach Jorge Jesus has indicated that Cristiano Ronaldo could return to the national team if he chooses to do so, stating, “If he wants to, he’ll return to the national team.” Meanwhile, midfielder Bruno Fernandes called for unity among fans and players, emphasising that Ronaldo remains the “greatest symbol” of the national team, as the country prepares for upcoming fixtures against Norway and Wales in November.
What remains unclear — It is uncertain whether Cristiano Ronaldo will choose to return to the Portugal national team for future fixtures.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s international future uncertain following dispute with coach Jesus
EXPLAINERSport|FootballWill Cristiano Ronaldo play for Portugal after a row with coach Jesus?
Ronaldo sparked controversy last week when he walked out of the camp after learning that he would not start a game.
Published On 6 Oct 20266 Oct 2026
Published On 6 Oct 20266 Oct 2026The drama surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s international future took another turn after Portugal head coach Jorge Jesus left the door open for the 41-year-old superstar’s return following his abrupt departure from the national team’s training camp.
The sentiment is shared by the Portuguese Football Federation president Pedro Proenca, who believes the episode is a mere misunderstanding that could be resolved internally.
But how did the apparent rift start, and will Ronaldo ever play again for Portugal?
What happened between Ronaldo and Jesus?
Ronaldo left the Portugal squad late on Wednesday, shortly after the head coach’s news conference, where Jesus confirmed that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner would be left out of his starting lineup for the match against Denmark, marking a second consecutive Nations League game absence.
Ronaldo’s decision to walk out came as a shock, as he had been due to train with his teammates at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen.
Portugal’s leading scorer had already spent the entirety of the 2-1 Nations League win away to Norway on September 27 on the bench, having captained the side in the 1-0 home victory over Wales three days before.
The game in Oslo was the first time since November 2024 that Ronaldo had not featured for Portugal despite not being injured or suspended.
What has Ronaldo said?
Ronaldo appeared to indicate that the reasons behind Jesus’s decision to bench him ran deeper and hinted at a departure from the national team he has graced for more than two decades.
“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,” Ronaldo said in a cryptic Instagram post, announcing his sudden exit from the camp.
Spanish sports daily Marca said Jesus and Proenca followed Ronaldo to Copenhagen airport in an attempt to persuade him to stay with the squad, before the player boarded his private jet.
There were reports that Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro had even discussed the issue of Ronaldo’s involvement with the coach on Wednesday.
Jesus insisted that there was no rift between them, although the 72-year-old, who was appointed in July, acknowledged that his captain was disappointed to remain on the bench against Norway.
How did Portugal play without Ronaldo?
Despite his absence, Nations League title holders Portugal won, defeating Denmark 4-2 in Copenhagen and Norway 2-1 in Porto. They also became the first team to qualify for the quarterfinals, ensuring a top-two finish in Group A4.
Forward Goncalo Ramos stepped up in Ronaldo’s absence, scoring three goals to be the team’s joint top scorer along with Joao Felix, while the AC Milan player also bagged an assist.
What did Portugal’s coach say about Ronaldo?
On Sunday, coach Jesus said Ronaldo could return to the national team if he chooses to.
“If he wants to, he’ll return to the national team. We can talk before the next call-up, but Cris is the one who’s going to decide,” said Jesus, who also coached Ronaldo at Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr.
“He’s the one who should decide how he wants to end his time with the national team. In my first call-up, I said, ‘I need you, I need you to be close to me, playing or not playing, I need you’. And now I’m saying the same thing.”
Jesus expects the forward to be available for the next international window if he wants to return.
What have the Portugal players said about Ronaldo?
Midfielder Bruno Fernandes said on Saturday he had spoken to Ronaldo and dismissed suggestions of a rift within Portugal’s squad.
“I had a chat with him and what I said to him is what I’ll repeat here: the most important thing is that, whatever happens, Cristiano Ronaldo will never cease to be the greatest symbol of our national team, of our football and of the country,” Fernandes told a news conference.
“For what he has achieved not only in Portugal, but all over the world. He has a place reserved not only amongst the all-time greats, but also in the hearts of all Portuguese people.”
“The most important thing is that we stop stirring up trouble; there are no divisions within the national team. It is one team and will remain so, despite any noise that may come from outside.”
Fernandes called for unity after a tumultuous few days in which Portugal fans’ opinions have been split over Ronaldo’s decision.
“We are outside of this controversy, but what I ask is that the country does not divide itself, does not make choices, that it respects all sides, but, at the same time, Cris is and will be the biggest icon of our national team. He deserves everyone’s respect, regardless of who likes him more or [who likes him] less,” Fernandes added.
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo applauds fans as he is substituted against Wales [File: Pedro Nunes/Reuters]
When was Ronaldo’s last match for Portugal and how did he perform?
Ronaldo featured just once for Portugal during this year’s Nations League, playing 67 minutes in their 1-0 home win over Wales.
It was a frustrating night for the Al-Nassr forward, who misfired several times. He found the side netting once and shinned an inviting volley high over from close range.
Around the hour mark, Ronaldo slid the ball into the Wales net but, to his evident disbelief, was ruled offside.
He was still shaking his head when Jesus substituted him seven minutes later.
Will he play for Portugal again?
The jury is still out.
Ronaldo, who made his Portugal debut in 2003 at the age of 18, has said this will “probably” be his final year in football. The forward has been a fixture of the national team for more than two decades and has played at six World Cups.
Former Real Madrid and Manchester United attacker Ronaldo is Portugal’s record scorer and most-capped player, with 146 goals in 234 international appearances.
He reached the World Cup semifinals in 2006 and captained his country to glory at Euro 2016. Ronaldo and Portugal were eliminated by eventual winners Spain in the last 16 of this year’s World Cup.
When is Portugal’s next match?
Portugal have completed their quota of four Nations League fixtures in this extended international window.
Their upcoming matches are in the next window: a home game with Norway on November 14 and an away match against Wales three days later.
Those matches will wrap up Portugal’s league phase in the Nations League, which they have won twice.
October 12, 2024
6:18 am
‘Cheer up, you caught the bad guy,’ says killer Virginia McCullough as she is arrested for murdering her parents
A woman who murdered her parents “in cold blood” before hiding them in makeshift tombs for four years told officers to “cheer up, you caught the bad guy” as she was arrested in her home.
Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John McCullough, 70, with prescription medication and fatally stabbed her mother Lois McCullough, 71, shortly afterwards in 2019.
She ran up large debts on credit cards in her parents’ names and after their deaths, she continued to spend their pensions until she was finally caught in 2023.
In body-worn video footage released by police, a handcuffed – and eerily calm – McCullough told officers: “I did know that this would kind of come eventually.
“It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”
She said she had slipped something into her father’s drink then put his body under a bed on the ground floor, and put her mother’s body in an upstairs wardrobe.
McCullough, having been arrested on suspicion of double murder, told an officer: “Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy.”
She added: “I know I don’t seem 100% evil.”
At the police station, she told officers where a kitchen knife was, which she described as a “murder weapon”, and a hammer which she said “will still have blood on it”.
McCullough, of Pump Hill, Chelmsford, Essex, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday with a minimum term of 36 years at Chelmsford Crown Court, after she admitted to their murders between 17 and 20 June 2019 at an earlier hearing at the same court.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard how she hid their bodies in makeshift tombs at the family home in Great Baddow in Essex, then told persistent lies to cover her tracks.
The court heard she cancelled family arrangements and frequently told doctors and relatives her parents were unwell, on holiday or away on lengthy trips.
But concerns over Mr and Mrs McCullough’s welfare were raised in September 2023 by a GP at their registered practice, and Essex County Council’s safeguarding team referred these to police.
The GP had not seen the couple for some time and said Mr McCullough had failed to collect medication and attend scheduled appointments. It was found McCullough had frequently cancelled appointments, using a range of excuses to explain her father’s absence.
Police said a missing persons investigation was initially launched and McCullough lied to officers, claiming her parents were travelling and would be returning in October.
It became a murder investigation, and when officers forced entry to the house in Pump Hill on September 15 2023, McCullough confessed that her parents’ bodies were in the house and that she had killed them.
Nicola Rice, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “McCullough callously and viciously killed both of her parents before concealing their bodies in makeshift tombs within their home address.
“She spent the next four years manipulating and lying to family members, medical staff, financial institutions, and the police, spending her parents’ money and accruing large debts in their name.”
She added: “This was a truly disturbing case, which has left behind it a trail of devastation, and I can only hope that the sentence passed today will help those who loved and cared for Lois and John begin to heal.”
To downplay the genocide, the israelis claim there’s only 20,000 people left in north Gaza, says
@MahaGaza
: the real number exceeds 400,000
Man of the right wing Nigel Farage taking more second jobs and freebie helicopter rides
Gosh he’ll soon be a true blue Tory at this rate
Or far far worse
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To address hardship & the climate crisis, the government must keep the £2 cap & make public transport accessible for all.
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November 23, 2024
8:25 am
Defense alliance NATO chief Mark Rutte has met US President-elect Donald Trump to discuss global security issues, according to a NATO spokesperson.
The meeting took place in Palm Beach, Florida.
During his first term as US president, 2017-2020, Trump pushed for European NATO countries to spend more on defense and described the alliance’s cost-sharing as unfair to the US.
Rutte took over as NATO chief from Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg in November.
Before taking office in January, Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth for the post of defense secretary, which has raised eyebrows among many allies.
Hegseth, 44, has served as an infantry captain in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has no senior military or government officer experience.
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
November 23, 2024
8:17 am
Multiple missiles were fired in an airstrike towards a densely populated part of Lebanon’s capital early on Saturday.
The huge airstrike targeted Beirut’s Basta neighbourhood, and no prior warnings were given by the Israeli military. The largely residential area was struck last month.
At least one violent explosion was heard across the city, Reuters witnesses said, and plumes of smoke could be seen. Scenes of massive destruction at the site were shared online, including a massive crater in the ground.
“Beirut, the capital, woke up to a horrific massacre, as the Israeli enemy’s air force completely destroyed an eight-story residential building with five missiles on Al-Mamoun Street in Basta,” the state-run National News Agency reported.
The health ministry put the initial death toll at four, with 23 wounded. The number is expected to climb in the coming hours as search and rescue efforts continue.
It came after a long day of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have been non-stop since last week.
The cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group escalated into a full-blown war in mid-September.
Israel has bombed southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the eastern Beqaa region, and has sent ground troops across the border. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets deeper into Israel.
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