Portugal’s heavy defeat by Denmark (1-4) in the Nations League—in their first match following Cristiano Ronaldo’s decision to permanently retire from the national team—sparked a great deal of discussion. The national team coach, Jorge Jesus, who is considered the… root of the scandal behind the 41-year-old superstar’s “goodbye,” was asked after the match if he… misses CR7.
“It was a special game, in honor of Ronaldo (editor’s note: the entire team took the field wearing the number ‘7’). After the fourth goal, some fans left the stadium chanting Cristiano’s name. “Are you worried and do you miss Ronaldo?” Jesus was asked at the press conference, to which he replied:
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“The two things have nothing to do with each other. It’s normal. People miss him and haven’t forgotten what he contributed over 23 years to the national team. There’s no coming back. The fact that some players are leaving while the team is losing 4-1… no one is happy or satisfied. We weren’t prepared to lose here either, let alone 4-1. Do I miss him? But how could I miss him, since he’s no longer on the national team? The only thing I could miss is his company. He’s not playing anymore; he’s not here anymore—he’s already made his decisions about his future.”
As for the mood in the locker room after the crushing defeat? “It was a bad night. A 4-1 loss is a bad night. But that’s because of everything that happened during the game. When you lose, the result is always negative. And when you feel that Denmark was better than us—just as we felt when we left Denmark, having played better and won 4-2. Soccer has moments like that. I’m not going to question the team’s overall performance now, as we’ve secured four solid wins in our previous matches. This time, we weren’t good. I went into the locker room and told the guys that we’re still in first place. We’re in first place! What I told them was: “Listen, it’s tough, it’s a tough loss, the opponent was better, but we’re still at the top and we have one game left to secure our spot in the quarterfinals.”
*photo source: AP
