🚨 Joao Felix on Cristiano Ronaldo’s reaction to Portugal beating Denmark 4-2: “Cristiano called me after the game. I answered expecting him to say congratulations. Instead he said, ‘Three.’ I said, ‘What?’ ‘Three games in a row.’ I started laughing. He said, ‘Don’t laugh. I’m keeping count.’ That’s Cristiano. People probably imagine that after everything that happened this week, he wouldn’t even watch the game. He watched everything. He asked me about Vitinha’s header. ‘Since when does Vitinha score headers?’ I said, ‘Apparently since you left.’ There was silence. I immediately thought, ‘Maybe that wasn’t the best joke.’ Then he started laughing. ‘Good. Tell him I expect another one next game.’ That told me everything. Whatever happened this week hurt him enough to leave the camp. I don’t know every conversation that happened, and I’m not going to pretend I do. But I know something else. Cristiano leaving Portugal and Cristiano wanting Portugal to lose are two completely different things. I’ve seen him with this shirt. When Portugal score, he celebrates. When Portugal concede, he’s angry. When somebody misses a chance, somehow Cristiano looks more frustrated than the person who missed it. You don’t spend more than twenty years caring about something and switch it off because you’re angry with somebody inside the building. Tonight he wasn’t there. But Portugal scored four and somewhere Cristiano was still Cristiano. He asked who played well. He talked about Bruno. He laughed about Vitinha. Then he came back to me. ‘Joao, seriously. You’re playing well. Keep going.’ I said, ‘I will.’ He said, ‘No, no. I mean keep ALL of it.’ I knew where this was going. ‘Cristiano…’ He said, ‘Three games, three goals. Very nice. But when international break finishes, you’re coming back to Al Nassr.’ I started laughing. He continued: ‘Don’t come back here and suddenly remember you’re a midfielder.’ I said, ‘So this whole phone call wasn’t about Portugal?’ He said, ‘Of course it was about Portugal. Portugal needed your goals tonight.’ Then he paused. ‘Next week, I need them.’ That’s probably the part people don’t understand about Cristiano. You can disagree with people. You can feel disappointed. You can even reach a point where you pack your things and leave. But the badge doesn’t become your enemy because you had a problem with the people wearing suits around it. Portugal won 4-2 without Cristiano Ronaldo tonight. And Cristiano Ronaldo was happy Portugal won 4-2 without Cristiano Ronaldo. Maybe some people expected bitterness. I didn’t. I’ve played with him long enough to know the difference between Cristiano being hurt and Cristiano stopping caring. The first one can happen. I’m not sure the second one knows how.”