Portugal coach 'knew nothing' about Ronaldo retiring

Portugal coach Jorge Jesus says he "found out when we all did" about Cristiano Ronaldo's retirement from international football. Jorge Jesus was Cristiano Ronaldo's club coach at Al-Nassr last season Portugal coach Jorge Jesus said he "found out when we all did" about Cristiano Ronaldo's retirement from international football. The 41-year-old made the announcement in an Instagram video, external on Thursday, the day before Jesus was due to announce his squad for this month's Nations League fixtures. Speaking at Friday's news conference, Jesus said that Ronaldo did not give him prior notice of his decision and he was set to select the in-form Al-Nassr forward. "I found out when we all did," Jesus said.

"Until then, I knew nothing about it. "He was playing, he was scoring goals; he was one of the players on my squad list." Ronaldo was available again after serving a 30-day suspension from international duty – a period that did not include any national team games. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner had left the Portugal camp in September after being told he would not start the Nations League match against Denmark four days later. Ronaldo later said that Jesus had "broken his word" but accepted he deserved to be punished for his premature departure and claimed that, at that time, he would not be retiring