Cristiano Ronaldo Leaves Portugal's Training Camp, Saying He Will Reveal the Reason 'In Due Time'

Cristiano Ronaldo announced on Thursday that he had left Portugal's training camp in Copenhagen, in a statement posted to Instagram and, within minutes, to his verified Chinese Weibo account in both Chinese and Portuguese. "After the national coach's press conference, and following a conversation with the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, I decided to leave the camp," the 41-year-old wrote. "In due time, I will tell all Portuguese people the truth about the reasons that motivated my departure, to which I always devoted myself. Now is the time to wish Portugal and all my teammates good luck — without exception."

The sequence had played out in public. Ronaldo was left out of the side for Portugal's match against Norway on September 28 and went straight down the tunnel afterward. At a press conference two days later, coach Jorge Jesus said he would not feature in the next two matches and insisted there was no conflict between them. After that press conference, Ronaldo left. The federation issued a statement confirming his departure, saying preparations for the Denmark and Norway games would continue with the other 24 players. Spanish daily Marca reported that Jesus and federation president Pedro Proença hurried to the airport to talk him into staying, and failed; the forward was airborne on a private plane shortly afterward. Portuguese paper O Jogo went further: the decision is irreversible, and the match against Wales at Lisbon's Estádio José Alvalade will stand as his last appearance for his country.

In Portugal the news landed as a wound. Doughty Santos, president of the Madeira club Andorinha where Ronaldo's career began, called it "a sad day for Portuguese football, and for world football," arguing the forward had been ambushed: if the federation did not intend to build around him, it should have said so before the squad was announced. "They set a trap for him, and he did not deserve that."

Chinese fans watched the whole thing live. The departure took the second question slot on Zhihu and two places on Baidu's hot board, and his Chinese-language statement drew more than 2,000 likes within hours. Commentator Zhan Jun, one of the country's best-known football voices, wrote that Ronaldo "has not said anything about his future with the national team, but he probably knows in his heart that he is no longer the automatic starter. Twenty-three years wearing Portugal's shirt — he gave everything, and he is already a legend. Perhaps it is time to turn the page."

A Portuguese dressing-room drama is not distant news in China: Ronaldo is among the most followed foreign athletes on Chinese social media, and his choice to publish the statement in Chinese as well as Portuguese is a measure of that audience. The federation's announcement settled the immediate question — Portugal will prepare for Denmark and Norway without him. The one he himself set — what "truth" he intends to tell, and whether the Wales friendly was in fact the last cap — remains open.