The former coach and technical commissioner spoke about the relationship, now at its lowest terms, with the Al Nassr striker
Cristiano Ronaldo continues to score: while fighting to win the title withAl Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, the former Juventus and Real Madrid striker is still the captain of the Portugal. The 1985 class will try to win the 2024 European Championship with his national team, to repeat the success of 2016. Roberto Martinez is now at the helm of the Lusitanians who has taken the place of Fernando Santos. The former coach of Portugal spoke to ‘To Bola of his relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo: “We don’t talk to each other anymore. I don’t know what day it was… We haven’t spoken to each other since Qatar.”
THE REPORT – Speaking to the Portuguese newspaper, the former coach of Portugal spoke about the relationship with the Al Nassr striker: “I had a very strong relationship with Cristiano. We met at Sporting when he was 19 and that relationship strengthened when we met at the Seleção. We always got along very well: it was almost a relationship between father and son, or between brothers. We had a very close and very strong relationship, both professionally and personally.”. Things, however, fell apart in the 2022 Qatar World Cup. First Fernando Santos chose to start Cristiano Ronaldo from the bench against Poland, then there was the elimination against Morocco: “His replacement was a strategic issue, I wanted to change something.I understand that he was hurt at the time and I realize that maybe he is still hurt. But the relationship we had was not just any relationship. I’m sad…”