Portugal put the controversy surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure from the national team camp to one side as they defeated Denmark 4-2 in the UEFA Nations League on Thursday.
Joao Felix sealed the victory late in the second half after Denmark twice came from behind to level the contest.
The match had been overshadowed by Ronaldo’s sudden departure from Portugal’s training camp on Wednesday after head coach Jorge Jesus announced that the veteran forward would not start against Denmark.
Jesus said before kick-off that his priority was for the team to “focus on the match”, and Portugal responded with a strong performance despite the controversy surrounding their captain.
Ronaldo, Portugal’s record goalscorer, had already spent the entirety of Sunday’s 2-1 Nations League victory over Norway on the bench after captaining the side in their 1-0 home win over Wales the previous Thursday.
Explaining his decision to leave the camp in a post on Instagram, Ronaldo said: “Following the national team coach’s press conference, and after having a conversation with the Portuguese Football Federation president, I decided to leave the national team’s training camp.”
He added: “In due course, I will tell the truth to all the Portuguese people about my reasons for leaving the national team, to which I have always been dedicated.”
Jesus said on Thursday that he would address the situation after the match.
On the pitch, Portugal took the lead after 13 minutes when Joao Cancelo found the net.
Denmark responded 10 minutes later through Mikkel Damsgaard, who curled the ball into the net to restore parity.
Portugal quickly regained their advantage, with Goncalo Ramos finishing at the near post two minutes after Denmark’s equaliser.
Rasmus Hojlund levelled the score again early in the second half before Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Vitinha restored Portugal’s lead with a header in the 57th minute.
Substitute Felix then completed the scoring three minutes from time, finishing a swift counter-attack to secure Portugal’s 4-2 victory.
The result gave Jesus a third win from his first three matches in charge of Portugal.
