The crisis engulfing the Portugal national team between Cristiano Ronaldo and Jorge Jesus has escalated. The captain has left the squad's camp and headed to Madrid, a development that raises the question of whether these are his final hours in a Portugal shirt.
"Marca" have laid out the timeline of the dispute between Ronaldo and Jesus. The Portugal captain was no ordinary player in the national team's plans, and the events of the past few days ratcheted up the tension between the two men, ending with Ronaldo's decision to walk away from the camp.
The beginning: an agreement for Ronaldo to feature in two matches
It all started when Jorge Jesus called up Cristiano Ronaldo for the four matches, brushing aside all the rumours that preceded the squad announcement.
According to "Marca", coach and player agreed that Ronaldo would feature in the first match against Wales, then the fourth against Norway on 4 October.
Things ran smoothly at first. Ronaldo started against Wales, played the opening 66 minutes and had a goal disallowed.
Jesus changes his plan against Norway
Everything changed on the morning of the second match against Norway, which finished with Portugal winning 2-1.
By "Marca"'s account, Jesus told Ronaldo he needed him and might bring him on for the final 30 minutes.
Sure enough, with the score at 1-1 in the 51st minute after Erling Haaland's goal, Ronaldo began warming up.
Then Portugal went 2-1 up in the 54th minute. That shifted the whole picture. The priority now was protecting the lead, and Jesus no longer saw any need to send Ronaldo on.
For around half an hour the captain kept warming up. He never got on. When the whistle went, he stormed off the pitch.
Ronaldo misses training
The crisis deepened the next day when Ronaldo skipped the national team's group training.
According to the Spanish newspaper, the player stayed away from the group and returned to the hotel, doing individual work in the gym instead.
Jesus's comments spark Ronaldo's anger
The real turning point arrived at Jorge Jesus's press conference.
"Marca" report that Ronaldo followed his coach's remarks and was not convinced by the explanation for why he had not played against Norway.
Jesus had brushed off Ronaldo's mood as merely "a moment of frustration lasting 10 or 15 or 20 seconds", referring to the player's reaction to not being brought on.
Rather than rejoin group training, Ronaldo chose to leave the camp altogether. He is set to take his private jet back to Madrid, landing in the Spanish capital on Wednesday evening.
Was it Ronaldo's last match with Portugal?
It remains too early to say for certain that Ronaldo has made a final call to retire from international football. The events are still fresh, and the player has issued no official statement.
Yet his exit from the camp in the middle of a row with Jesus opens the door to the possibility that this is the end of his international career.
Ronaldo has 146 goals in 234 international matches for Portugal, a career that has made him the national team's all-time top scorer and record appearance holder.
One question now hangs over everything. Will Ronaldo pull on the Portugal shirt again, or has his falling-out with Jorge Jesus already drawn the curtain on his international career?