{"id":791130,"date":"2026-10-03T22:48:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T22:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/791130\/"},"modified":"2026-10-03T22:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T22:48:13","slug":"portugals-greatest-symbol-bruno-fernandes-backs-cristiano-ronaldo-despite-walkout-portugal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/791130\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Portugal\u2019s greatest symbol\u2019: Bruno Fernandes backs Cristiano Ronaldo despite walkout | Portugal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bruno Fernandes has said Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a> remains \u201cthe greatest symbol\u201d of the Portugal team, despite his decision to walk out on the squad this week.<\/p>\n

Ronaldo said on Wednesday he had left the team camp after the Portugal coach, Jorge Jesus, said he would not start against Denmark. Portugal went on to win the Nations League<\/a> contest 4-2 without him, and Ronaldo\u2019s international future remains in doubt.<\/p>\n

The Manchester United midfielder Fernandes called for unity after a tumultuous few days in which Portugal<\/a> fans\u2019 opinions have been split over Ronaldo\u2019s decision, and the future for their country\u2019s leading goalscorer and most capped men\u2019s player.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegarding Cristiano, I had a conversation with him, and what I told him, and what I repeat here, is this \u2013 the most important thing is that, regardless of what happens, Cristiano Ronaldo will never cease to be the greatest symbol of our national team, of our football, and of the country, for what he has done not only in Portugal but throughout the world,\u201d Fernandes told reporters on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has a reserved place not only among the best of all time, but also in the hearts of all Portuguese people, and the most important thing is that we stop dividing things,\u201d Fernandes added. \u201cThere are no divisions in the national team, it is one and will remain so, despite any noise that may come from outside.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are outside of this controversy, but what I ask is that the country does not divide itself, does not make choices, that it respects all sides. At the same time, Cris is and will be the biggest icon of our national team, he deserves everyone\u2019s respect, regardless of who likes him more or [who likes him] less.\u201d<\/p>\n

Portugal beat Norway 2-1 in Oslo last Sunday with Ronaldo an unused substitute, then prevailed 4-2 in Copenhagen after his departure from the squad, with Fernandes wearing the captain\u2019s armband. The Nations League holders face Norway again on Sunday, this time in Porto.<\/p>\n

Jorge Jesus, who managed Ronaldo at the Saudi side Al-Nassr before taking the national team job, said the 41-year-old was a \u201csymbol of Portugal,\u201d adding that there would be time to speak about him after the Norway game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to focus on the team, on the opponent which is Norway, one of the five best teams in Europe. That\u2019s the problem right now,\u201d said the 72-year-old coach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bruno Fernandes has said Cristiano Ronaldo remains \u201cthe greatest symbol\u201d of the Portugal team, despite his decision to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":791131,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-791130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=791130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/791131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=791130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=791130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=791130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}