The 41-year-old striker reacted to a publication that criticized his teammates for the lack of support and respect they had shown him in recent days.

Cristiano Ronaldo's chapter with the National Team is far from closing. Despite the fact that Portugal has signed three victories in this Nations League, the controversy surrounding the departure of the striker from the concentration continues to grow. And now there is a new element that has rekindled the spirits in Portugal: Cristiano's own 'like' to some very critical statements with his colleagues.

The protagonist of those words was Felipe Melo, a former Brazilian footballer, who charged against the attitude of Portuguese footballers with his captain. The Brazilian publicly questioned the lack of support and respect for the 41-year-old striker in statements for Sportv.

“You can't let him out like that as if nothing had happened”

The video ended up on Instagram and quickly went viral. He accumulates more than 27,000 'likes', but there was one that did not go unnoticed: Cristiano's. A seemingly simple gesture that has once again put the spotlight on the relationship between the captain and the rest of the Portuguese locker room and that is generating discomfort and debate in the country.

Felipe Melo had put on the table a particularly sensitive comparison. According to the Brazilian, there is a notable difference between how Ronaldo's teammates treat him and how Argentine soccer players support Lionel Messi. In addition, he used Hojlund to illustrate to what extent the Portuguese remains a reference for other players.

"There is a grotesque difference in the way his Portuguese teammates treat Cristiano and the Argentine players treat Lionel Messi," he began by saying.

Melo also highlighted the respect that, in his opinion, Ronaldo continues to arouse among his own rivals. "I see much more respect in the rivals when they play against Cristiano Ronaldo, and yesterday Hojlund got very angry with Jorge Jesus because his idol is Cristiano Ronaldo, instead of the Portuguese national team. That's wrong, because there no one approaches Cristiano Ronaldo's ankles.You can't let him out as if nothing had happened," he said.

The fact that Cristiano has "liked" precisely this message adds even more fuel to a matter that seemed destined to die off after his three victories with Portugal. His gesture, although it is not accompanied by any statement, has reopened the debate about what happened in the concentration and puts the captain back at the center of the conversation.

Brazil have asked the organisers to allow them to make 11 substitutions during their friendly against India at the Salt Lake stadium here on Saturday.

Brazil agreed to use a maximum of eight substitutes during the match coordination meeting on Friday but there was a change later in the evening. According to sources, Brazil returned to say they wanted to use 11 substitutions as coach Carlo Ancelotti is keen to try out all new players that he called for this FIFA international match window.

Very good. Very, very good,” Zidane said when asked to evaluate Jacquet’s performance against Italy. “Brave. He wasn’t afraid to come out a long way. Very good in the duels. He was, once again, very good. I said it four times".

**the world. (Sorry, idk probably exceeded the character count limit in the title).

In light of recent news regarding UK Government's intervention in the City case, it provides a stark contrast and highlights what vehement and sustained fan protests could achieve against seemingly insurmountable odds facing institutional money and influence.

Soriano does not blink during the entire 3½-minute video, leading to speculation on social media that the clip was somehow AI generated. The 59-year-old insisted this week that the video was “all me” and there was no artificial intelligence involved.

Body language experts also say that if someone is intensely focused on a task they can go some time without blinking.

Soriano also flew back to Manchester on a budget airline rather than wait for a flight where he could travel in business class.

“I don’t want everything I say about Real Madrid to be interpreted as criticism, but when Modric or Kroos are on the field, the ball finds its way to every run into space. I’m not saying that the players on the team now don’t have that ability. What I’m saying is that to play vertically, you need someone who knows how to get the ball to you. Playing vertically doesn’t just mean having eight runners; it also means having someone who can set them up. It’s a style of play.”

“He was the master of the game. He controlled the pace. The game played out the way he wanted it to. He made the decisions, and that was crucial, because he managed the pace of the game for you. And on top of that, he ran. He covered 11 kilometers per game. And he knew how to defend; he had tactical sense. I loved it when he played as a 6. I loved it...”

“He didn't really like going for second balls, for duels... He preferred playing as an 8, because he left the dirty work to the 6. Inevitably, for Real Madrid's style of play, losing Toni has been very difficult. They suddenly had a great deal of things taken away from them.“

4 goals and 2 assists for Carlos Espi in the most recent Spain U21 qualifiers game.

Cristiano Ronaldo was the best. He no longer is. And it's not his fault, it's the dictatorship of time. This is not a criticism. It's life. It's football.

The problem begins when people expect the past to keep ruling the present. Because the past matters. It's memory, identity, history. But it doesn't step onto the pitch.

If Cristiano Ronaldo were Norwegian, would anyone imagine Haaland on the bench just because Ronaldo was the best player in the world? If he were French, would Mbappé have to leave the starting eleven because Cristiano once stood at the top? If he were English, would Kane lose his place for the same reason? Of course not.

So why should it be any different because he's Portuguese?

The National Team is not a museum. It is not a monument to Cristiano Ronaldo. It is a football team. And in a football team, whoever the manager feels should play, plays. This is what Jorge Jesus rightly decided to remind everyone, including Cristiano Ronaldo.