Gonçalo Ramos post sparks row: “The status of being the best” | OneFootball

Gonçalo Ramos sealed Portugal’s 2-1 win over Norway at the Estádio do Dragão, but the striker’s night was also marked by a social media post. After scoring the goal that secured qualification for the Nations League quarter-finals, the Portugal international reposted a comment about his performance with the caption “The status of being the best.” The phrase overlapped with national team coach Jorge Jesus’s explanations for Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence after the fourth group-stage match.

Between his starring role on the pitch and the reaction off it, Gonçalo Ramos was at the centre of attention. The AC Milan forward, where he plays under Ruben Amorim, scored in the 79th minute and once again made the most of his chance with the national team. Speaking after the match, he highlighted the work he has been doing and the quality of his teammates, while Jorge Jesus again addressed Ronaldo’s future.

The post came late in the evening on Instagram. Ramos reposted a publication by sports pundit Luís Freitas Lobo about his display, accompanied by a phrase that took on particular significance in the context of the discussion surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo.

“The status of being the best,” read the caption of the post shared by the striker.

The word “status” — repeatedly used by Jorge Jesus to explain Ronaldo’s case — linked two issues that marked the same night. The post alone does not allow any conclusion about Ramos’s intention, but it helps explain why attention shifted from the decisive goal to social media as well.

At the press conference after the match, the national team coach refused to treat Cristiano Ronaldo’s exclusion as an irreversible situation. Jorge Jesus played down the conflict and pointed to the involvement of other people in making the episode seem bigger than it was.

“Cris will only not return to the national team if he doesn’t want to. For me, that isn’t an issue. The matter between me and him was blown out of proportion,” he said. “A lot of people got involved in the case and made this seem like a problem, when it wasn’t a problem at all. A coach has a player — and he is different, with status — warming up and then he doesn’t come on, and that created this problem.”

Jesus also insisted that he wants Ronaldo in the squad and that the decision on when his time with the national team ends belongs to the player. To support that position, he recalled the conversation they had during his first call-up.

“Do you think it’s right for someone of Cris’s stature to have it end like this, from one moment to the next? I want him here. He knows it will end — this doesn’t last forever — but I’d like him to finish with the national team the way he wants,” he stressed. “He will be the one to decide. That’s what we talked about. In the first call-up I told him, ‘I need you.’ Whether you play or not, I need you.”

The coach therefore left the door open for a return and placed the choice in Ronaldo’s hands. At the same time, he distinguished the player’s status from decisions over his use, precisely the point that sparked the controversy.

On the pitch, Ramos has been cementing his place as the focal point of Portugal’s attack in Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence. With three goals and one assist in his last three starts, he appeared in the Sport TV flash interview area pleased with the contribution he had made to the team.

“From the start, I’ve always shown that I was ready, even when I came off the bench. That’s part of football and of the position I was in before,” he said. “I’ve worked incredibly hard and I keep working to show my worth (…). It’s a source of pride and proof of my work and, above all, of the quality we have as a team.”

The striker then broadened his focus to the team’s overall performance. Alongside the chances created, he highlighted the adaptation to the new coach’s ideas and the need to use matches as a way to improve.

“We created a lot of chances and, as a striker, I enjoy the quality I have around me. The goal is to win every game, but we are in a period of adapting to the new coach’s ideas,” he explained. “And since we don’t have much time to train, we use the games to keep improving, and that has been clear in these four matches.”

In Ramos’s words, individual progress does not come separately from the growth of the national team. The striker acknowledges the weight of the work he has done to reach this moment, but shares the credit with the quality of those playing around him.

That recognition had a clear recipient when he spoke about the goal against Norway. João Félix, who provided the assist, was thanked for the decision he made in the move.

“I always try to thank whoever sets me up for a goal,” he said. “There are many players in João’s position who could have shot or pretended not to see me there. He took care to pass me the ball.”

Ramos valued not only the pass, but Félix’s choice to look for his teammate instead of finishing himself. In a match decided by his strike, he made sure to point out that the goal began with another player’s willingness to set him up.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.