THE Former national team coach Paulo Bento said today that Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to the Portuguese football team “was almost impossible”, after abandoning his internship in Copenhagen, and that this end “was not desirable for anyone”.
“I believe that after what happened, first when he was absent from the internship and then with that announcement, it was practically impossible to return. Even if he hadn’t made this decision, I don’t believe that the minimum conditions existed to continue”, said Paulo Bento, speaking to RTP Noticias.
The 57-year-old coach led Portugal between 2010 and 2014, including in the final stages of Euro2012, which took place in Poland and Ukraine and in which the national team reached the semi-finals, and in the World Cup 2014, in Brazil, which ended with an unexpected elimination in the group stage.
“What happened at the training camp doesn’t seem to me to be a reason for him to be absent like that, especially considering the responsibilities he had in the team. But, attitudes have consequences and this ending was not desirable for anyone”, lamented the former midfielder.
Pointing out Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player of all time, Paulo Bento spoke about his time in the national team and how the striker was decisive, a status he has lost in recent years.
“During my time with the national team, the team was dependent on Ronaldo. But, that ended with Fernando Santos, especially in the 2022 World Cup, and then with Roberto MartÃnez. Time consumes us all in some way and clearly his performance was no longer in line with his status”, he concluded.
At the 2014 World Cup, with Paulo Bento, Portugal reached the group stage, in one of their worst campaigns ever in World Championships, and Cristiano Ronaldo competed in the competition with several physical problems.
Paulo Bento left his role as national coach and, years later, publicly admitted that his relationship with Ronaldo was becoming increasingly difficult and that the hierarchy between coach and player had been called into question.
Striker Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, announced today his withdrawal from the Portuguese football team, through a video posted on his social networks, on the eve of the squad for the last two games of the Nations League qualifying phase being announced.
World record holder for national team games, with 234 ‘AA’ caps, and for goals, with 146, Cristiano Ronaldo’s career highlights include winning Euro2016, in France, as well as two editions of the Nations League, in 2019 and 2025, after becoming European runner-up at Euro2004, held in Portugal.
On September 30, the striker left the Portuguese national team training camp on the eve of the Nations League match against Denmark in Copenhagen, at the beginning of Jorge Jesus’ cycle as coach of the national team.
Ronaldo, who was a starter with Wales and an unused substitute with Norway, revealed that Jesus failed to speak to him more than once and that is why he decided to leave the training camp on his own initiative, a decision that cost him a 30-day ban, already served, and a fine of 255 euros.
The last game for the ‘quinas’ team ended up being the triumph against Wales (1-0) played on September 24th, in the first round of Group A4 of the League of Nations, at the José Alvalade Stadium, in Lisbon, more than 23 years after the debut on August 23rd, 2003, in Chaves, in a friendly against Kazakhstan.
The last goal with the Portuguese shirt was scored in the victory against Croatia (2-1), in the round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup, on July 3, in Toronto, Canada, by converting a penalty.
