Portugal chaos as Conceicao injured, Ramos starts, but report Ronaldo storms out
Juventus winger Francisco Conceicao is injured and Milan’s Goncalo Ramos will start against Denmark, but there are reports ex-Juve striker Cristiano Ronaldo left the Portugal camp after a row with the coach.
The Portuguese side will visit Denmark in the Nations League for Matchday 3 on Thursday evening, and there will be several Serie A players involved.
Coach Jorge Jesus held a fiery press conference this evening when he announced that Juventus man Conceicao will not be taking part, as he is dealing with a muscular injury.
The fact he has not been directly sent home suggests the injury is not too serious, and does not require further testing.
He did confirm however that Milan centre-forward Goncalo Ramos would be leading the way in the starting XI.
Portugal miss Serie A talent, CR7 row erupts
However, the situation is spiralling out of control elsewhere, as A Bola and Marca report that Cristiano Ronaldo left the Portugal camp after the press conference, taking a private jet to return home.
CR7 could be prepared to hang up his boots and retire from international duty at the age of 41.
The former Juventus player made his Portugal debut at senior level in August 2003, going on to score 146 goals with 45 assists in 234 appearances.
The tension erupted after Ronaldo was left on the bench throughout Portugal’s 2-1 victory away to Norway on Sunday.
He missed training with the team for three days in a row, and A Bola claim he left the stadium in Copenhagen while his teammates were on the pitch.
“I can say whatever I want. I’m the coach,” declared Jorge Jesus in the press conference that seemingly sparked this response.
“I told Ronaldo he wasn’t going to play, that he’d be on the bench, and if needed we’d use him for 30 minutes, otherwise he wouldn’t play. No player will ever change my mind. Not him, not anyone in football. Not any President. Never, zero.”
It came after reports that Portuguese Federation President Pedro Proença flew to Denmark for a crisis meeting with both the coach and Cristiano Ronaldo this morning.
Conceicao and Ramos had been in the starting XI against Norway, along with Lecce defender Renato Veiga.
