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ZINEDINE ZIDANE SPEAKS OUT ABOUT THE TENSION BETWEEN CRISTIANO RONALDO AND JORGE JESUS!

A statement attributed to Zidane is making waves as he is reportedly defending his former player, Cristiano Ronaldo:

🗣️ “I don’t like talking about another coach’s dressing room. Normally, I choose to remain silent. But there are some things you immediately understand when you have worked with a player like Cristiano.

You cannot call up a player of his stature, bring him to a match, ask him to warm up, and then treat him as if he were just another ordinary name on the team sheet.

Cristiano is 41 years old. Everyone knows that. His body is not the same as it once was, and his playing time needs to be managed intelligently. No serious person would expect Cristiano to run and play the way he did when he was 26.

But the issue here is not age.

THE ISSUE IS RESPECT.

If you call up Cristiano, it means you understand what he still represents. It’s not just about the goals.

It’s also about his presence, the standards he sets, and the history Cristiano carries on his shoulders whenever he puts on the Portugal shirt.

The coach is always the one who makes the decisions. That is completely normal. When I was at Real Madrid, I also made many decisions about who would start and who would sit on the bench. Cristiano accepted that when everything was communicated clearly.

But what a player of that level cannot accept is being made to look small in front of the public.

If you need Cristiano for 20 minutes, prepare him for those 20 minutes.

If the match changes and you no longer need him, explain it clearly, like men talking to each other. Don’t make a champion run up and down the touchline just to show everyone who really has the authority to decide.

Everyone already knows that the coach is the one who makes the decisions.

I worked with Cristiano. I know what he brings to the dressing room even when he doesn’t play the full 90 minutes.

The Nations League will eventually pass. The next match will come. Jorge will prepare another lineup.

But Cristiano will remember how he was treated.

You don’t have to start him in every match. You don’t have to protect Cristiano’s ego by putting it above the interests of the team.

But after everything he has given to that shirt, there is one simple thing you owe him:

DIGNITY.

A great player can accept sitting on the bench.

But he cannot accept being treated as if his name no longer means anything.”

5 days ago | [YT] | 1