{"id":47260,"date":"2026-10-05T13:44:38","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T11:44:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=47260"},"modified":"2026-10-05T13:45:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T11:45:18","slug":"ronaldo-can-return-to-the-team-if-he-wants-to-portugal-coach","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/ronaldo-can-return-to-the-team-if-he-wants-to-portugal-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"Ronaldo can return to the team if he wants to: Portugal Coach\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"ltr\">Portugal head coach Jorge Jesus says Cristiano Ronaldo can return to the national team if he chooses to, leaving the door open for the 41-year-old captain after his abrupt departure from the squad last week.<\/div>\n<div id=\"x_ms-outlook-mobile-signature\">\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Ronaldo left Portugal\u2019s training camp after being an unused substitute in a win over Norway and learning he would not start against Denmark.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>He subsequently said on social media that he would explain his reasons for leaving the national team \u201cin due course\u201d.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cIf he wants to, he\u2019ll return to the national team. We can talk before the next call-up, but Cris is the one who\u2019s going to decide. In my first call-up, I told him that I need him close to me, playing or not.\u201d Jesus told reporters after Portugal\u2019s 2-1 Nations League win over Norway on Sunday.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Defending champions Portugal won 4-2 in Denmark without Ronaldo and then beat Norway on Sunday to maintain a perfect record in Group A4 and secure a place in the Nations League quarter-finals.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Five-time Ballon D\u2019Or winner Ronaldo is Portugal\u2019s record scorer and most-capped player, with 146 goals in 234 international appearances.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Portuguese Football Federation President Pedro Proenca says that Ronaldo remains part of the team\u2019s plans, describing the episode as a misunderstanding that should be resolved internally.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cHe is in the national team on sporting merit, and that must be unquestionable. We have to pay tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo.\u201d Proenca told\u00a0<i>RTP<\/i>.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Jesus, who also coached Ronaldo at Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr, expects the forward to be available for the next International window if he wants to return.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Portugal will host Denmark on the November \u00a014 before visiting Wales three days later.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\u2014Reuters\u2014<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":34900,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-47260","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Ronaldo left Portugal\u2019s training camp after being an unused substitute in a win over Norway and learning he would not start against Denmark.","published_date":"","news_description":"Ronaldo left Portugal\u2019s training camp after being an unused substitute in a win over Norway and learning he would not start against Denmark.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/47260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/47260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47262,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/47260\/revisions\/47262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=47260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}