“If Ronaldo wishes, he will come back,” assures the coach

Portugal coach Jorge Jesus opened the door on Sunday to a return of his superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who left the international gathering this week after learning he would be benched for a second consecutive match.

“Cristian? For the next international window, he will be summoned. If he wishes, he will return to us. We will talk about it again before the next list, but it is up to him to decide,” said Jorge Jesus at a press conference after the victory against Norway (2-1) in the Nations League.

All options therefore remain on the table, and especially in the hands of the ex-Real Madrid star, best director and most capped player in the history of Portugal, with 234 caps and 146 goals scored.

The qualification acquired from this first window, with 12 points gleaned from four matches, could grant a window to the Portuguese Federation to offer a better exit to its icon, mid-November, during the next international break.

While waiting for the continuation of this soap opera which has an entire country in suspense, life without “CR7”, which had started remarkably against Denmark (4-2), continues almost as if nothing had happened for the men of Jorge Jesus, who had refused to comment on the crisis with his ex-captain before the match.

Long in the shadow of the Madeira giant, former Paris Saint-Germain striker Gonçalo Ramos, already a scorer and decisive passer in the previous match, did it again by giving victory to his team a few minutes from time (79th, 2-1), after a superb lofted ball from his ex-teammate Vitinha saved by Joao Felix.

Despite a succession of Portuguese chances, it was Erling Haaland’s teammates who opened the scoring with a long-range free kick from Martin Odegaard taken by central defender Kristoffer Ajer with a beautiful half-volley (36th, 1-0).

But the Vikings barely had time to celebrate this improbable gem from the Brentford player when they were cooled by another missile from Barcelona full-back Joao Cancelo, well placed after a long touch from Nuno Mendes (38th, 1-1).

The ex-Manchester City player almost scored a double at the start of the second half, but his new powerful half-volley was this time repelled by Brest goalkeeper Egil Selvik (54th), preferred to veteran Orjan Nyland after his gross error in the first leg (2-1 defeat).

The Norwegians, who find themselves last in group 4 with only three points, no longer managed to exist after the exit of Haaland, replaced, at his request, by Jorgen Strand Larsen (67th), even after the stupid exclusion of Francisco Conceição (86th).