Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, the Al-Nassr Saudi player, sparked widespread controversy in recent hours by leaving his national team's camp before the Nations League match against Denmark, following a dispute with Jorge Jesus, the head coach of the national team. However, he is not the first player to cause controversy during this current international break.
The situation began at the Egyptian national team camp when Mohamed Salah, captain of the Pharaohs, left the camp on the morning after the Angola match, in which he was substituted off in the 61st minute. Despite the disagreement between Salah and Hossam Hassan, the head coach of the national team, the Egyptian Football Association announced that Salah had left the camp for rest ahead of the South Sudan match, which was played on an artificial turf pitch.
Although Hossam Hassan stated during the press conference that Salah would be present for the friendly match against South Africa, scheduled for next Sunday at Cairo International Stadium, the Trabzonspor star has still not returned to the Egyptian national team camp.
Algerian star follows Salah
Hours after Salah's crisis, Rayan Aït-Nouri, the Manchester City star, left the Algerian national team camp due to his anger over not playing in the match against Zambia, which ended in a 3-1 victory for the Desert Warriors.
Rayan Aït-Nouri showed dissatisfaction while sitting on the bench, before getting into a confrontation with Moussa Saib, the general manager of the Algerian national team, who tried to talk to him and calm the situation. Consequently, coach Ibrahim Hamdani decided to remove him from the camp.
According to the AfricaSoccer website, the Manchester City defender was asked twice to go down for warm-up exercises before the coach changed his plans and chose Adel Boulbina as the final substitute. This angered Aït-Nouri, who personally requested to leave after the match.
Ronaldo joins the list of rebels
Cristiano Ronaldo, captain of the Portuguese national team, joined the list of players who have left their respective national team camps, arriving in the Spanish capital, Madrid, early today.
The crisis between Ronaldo and Jesus, Portugal's coach, escalated to the point where the player is close to retiring from international football. The dispute began when Ronaldo remained on the bench throughout the Norway match, subsequently missing the national team's training session in preparation for tonight's scheduled match against Denmark.
Ronaldo left the Portuguese national team camp due to statements made by the head coach, who said: "I can promise whatever I want; I am the coach. I told Ronaldo that he will not start the match and will be on the bench. If I need him for 30 minutes, he will play, and if I don't need him, he won't play. No player will change my mind."
Ronaldo broke his silence, writing on his official social media accounts: "After the head coach's press conference, and after speaking with the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, I made the decision to leave the national team camp. In due time, I will reveal the truth to all Portuguese people regarding the reasons that led me to leave the team, for which I have always dedicated myself. Now is the time to wish Portugal and all my teammates success, without exception."
