Portugal strings together four straight wins without Ronaldo, Jorge Jesus closes the debate

Portugal beat Norway on Sunday evening to secure a fourth consecutive victory, still without Cristiano Ronaldo. João Cancelo opened the scoring with a classy goal, before Gonçalo Ramos sealed the result.

While the Ronaldo saga has dominated debate since the start of this international break, Jorge Jesus’s men have achieved a perfect record in four matches, three of them without the five-time Ballon d’Or winner. Deployed as a striker in place of CR7, Gonçalo Ramos has established himself as a credible option: three goals and one assist in three starts, enough to fuel questions about the Al Nassr player’s place in the Portuguese setup.

After the match, Jorge Jesus was directly questioned about Ronaldo’s future and potential apologies to him. The manager didn’t mince words. “Apologize for what? What would be the reason to apologize? The problem at the root of all this is the player’s warm-up. I take responsibility for the decision and what happened. But apologize for what? To whom? It’s absurd.”

Recently appointed to lead the national team, Jesus then unambiguously reminded everyone of the scope of his authority. “I am the manager, I call up whoever I want. I don’t ask anyone’s opinion on the players I want to select or who will play. As manager, there are things that are non-negotiable, and so I cannot be clearer.”

The question of a possible Ronaldo return to the national team, or even a farewell match, remains unresolved. Portugal’s collective results, meanwhile, leave no room for criticism so far.