The well-known case surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portugal national team has gained international proportions, also putting Jorge Jesus’s name on everyone’s lips. So The Athletic went to find out about the national coach’s career and reached a conclusion: “Nobody, not even Cristiano Ronaldo, messes with Jorge Jesus.”

That is the highlight of the article, which presents the coach’s career. “If the current Portugal coach ends up being remembered mainly as the man who put an end to the international career of the 41-year-old forward, it will be a reductive view both of recent events and of his vast sporting résumé.”

Jesus is described by the English as “demanding, meticulous in tactics and convinced of his principles” and, above all, as someone who “maintains a leadership based on non-negotiable authority.”

“They will play twice as much”

The famous phrase uttered by JJ at his presentation as Benfica coach, in 2009, is also highlighted. “The players will play twice as much as they played last season. And perhaps even better than that,” it is written, before highlighting another relevant story.

“His authority was demonstrated right from the first day of work at the Luz, in a training session under intense sun in which he removed the usual water cooler, severely reprimanding the players who tried to go to the changing rooms and making clear that only he determined the team’s timings and rules. The impact translated into immediate titles: he won the league in his debut season, breaking a five-year drought, and by 2015 had accumulated three league titles, one Portuguese Cup and five League Cups.”

Impact in Brazil

“It is no exaggeration to say that Brazil fell in love with Jesus,” The Athletic then highlights, about JJ’s spell at Flamengo, where he was crowned national and South American champion: “His tactics — bold, intense, modern — gave rise to some of the best moments of football the country has seen in recent years. His players also idolized him, quickly realizing that his obsession with detail and with dominating training was something new in Brazilian football.”

Clashes with players

Jorge Jesus’s words to Carlos Martins in 2012/13 — “If I wanted to choose him, I would have chosen him” — and about Islam Slimani, by then at Sporting, in 2016 — “What Slimani says is worth zero because I’m the one in charge” — are also recalled to highlight that the coach showed up for the national team exactly as himself.

“If the Portuguese Football Federation was hiring Jesus, the serial winner, or Jesus, the visionary, it knew it was also hiring this Jesus. At his first press conference, in July, he stated that ‘he will not be afraid to face anyone’, a phrase that at the time caused some surprise and that now sounds incredibly loaded with meaning,” praises the prestigious English outlet.

“Either Ronaldo gives in, or Jesus leaves”

In conclusion, The Athletic analyzes the case between Ronaldo and Jesus as follows: “If Jesus is guilty of anything, it is only of remaining faithful to his principles — and of defending his right to do so in public.”

“Some kind of rapprochement may still be possible,” it continues, “However, it will be Ronaldo who has to give in. Either that, or Jesus will end up leaving. For him, there is no middle ground. It would be a betrayal of everything he believes in.”