"He will not play every match": Jesus reveals Ronaldo's situation ahead of the Wales clash

The Portuguese coach surprised his star and captain.

Jorge Jesus, the new head coach of the Portugal national team, has revealed where Cristiano Ronaldo stands ahead of the opening UEFA Nations League match against Wales, with the Al-Nassr captain's involvement in doubt.

Jesus takes charge of Portugal for the first time tomorrow, Thursday, when they face Wales in the opening round of the group stage of the 2027 UEFA Nations League.

He fronted the media today, Wednesday, to preview the match. The Portuguese newspaper "A Bola" reported parts of the press conference, and much of the focus fell on whether Ronaldo could start and last the full 90 minutes.

"Today will be my first training session (with the Portugal national team) on the pitch. Yesterday was a recovery session," the Portuguese coach said.

On the "Madeira rocket", Jesus added: "If nothing exceptional happens today, Ronaldo will start tomorrow."

Turning to the journalists, he went on: "I notice that your concern is centred on whether Cristiano is ready to play. Cris is a symbol of Portugal, but that does not give him the right to play every match."

He continued: "But to give you an idea, we played a match in Hong Kong without him, and there were 5,000 spectators, and when he played there were 55,000 spectators. He will play tomorrow, and I hope he scores a goal or two and I will substitute him straight away."

Pressed on his aims with Portugal, he explained: "I am in a national team that includes the best players in the world, and wherever I go I play to win, and in the UEFA Nations League we are the defending champions, so we have to defend it."

He signed off: "Many people say that coaching a national team is not like coaching a club. I have not noticed any difference. I am at the federation every day, and when I was at the club, I would arrive in the morning and leave at five or six in the evening. I have not noticed any difference."