Jose Mourinho has harshly criticized the coach of the Portuguese national team Jorge Jesus for the treatment and management of 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo. According to “The Special“, the way in which the greatest figure in the history of Portuguese football is treated sends an extremely wrong message.
“If you call Cristiano Ronaldo to the national team and then treat him like an ordinary player in the squad, it's a mistake. Cristiano is not Endrik. He's not Vinicius. He's not Lamine Jamal. He is Cristiano Ronaldo and everyone knows what that name means for Portugal“, Mourinho stated categorically.
Mourinho stressed that he has no problem with Ronaldo starting from the bench at 41, but the attitude towards him must correspond to his enormous merits:
"Nobody expects Cristiano to run for 90 minutes like he did at 25, but his experience and mentality remain intact".
"Dosing a legend's minutes for decisive moments is professionalism, but belittling his importance is demonstrative disrespect".
The Portuguese specialist recalled that Jesus should never forget what Cristiano has done for his country - he has led the national team through different generations, broken dozens of world records and kept Portugal among the best in football for years.