Carragher also accused Ronaldo of pulling the stunt to get rid of his national team’s manager, Jesus, because he was mad at him.
By Kehinde Okeowo
British pundit and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has made it clear to British journalist Piers Morgan and Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand that they are “embarrassing” themselves following their unwavering support of Cristiano Ronaldo in his face-off with Portugal manager Jorge Jesus.
The ex-England international berated the duo on Friday, 9 October 2026, while speaking on the football show The Overlap Daily.
Ronaldo, 41, attracted negative attention earlier this month when he left the Portugal squad in Copenhagen ahead of their UEFA Nations League match against Denmark, following a disagreement with head coach Jorge Jesus over alleged unfulfilled commitments.
The Al Nassr forward was reportedly instructed to participate in an extended warm-up session lasting more than 30 minutes during the match against Norway in Oslo but remained unused on the bench.
Jesus was expected to address the matter during his press conference but refrained from doing so, fuelling Ronaldo’s frustration.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner later withdrew from the Portuguese national team and subsequently apologised to fans while explaining his action via social media.
ALSO READ: Super Falcons beat hard-fighting Comoros 2–0 in first leg of Olympics qualifier
Reacting to the saga, Piers Morgan criticised Jorge Jesus, describing him as the Portuguese Erik ten Hag, in reference to the former Manchester United manager who also experienced conflict with Ronaldo.
Also wading into the matter, Ferdinand sided with his former Manchester United colleague, expressing disapproval of Jesus’ handling of the situation and demanding an apology from him.
However, Carragher opined that Ronaldo pulled the stunt just to get rid of his national team’s manager because he was mad at him.
“He invariably demands that everything revolve around him. He is evidently attempting to engineer the manager’s dismissal,” he said.
While addressing criticism of the Portugal gaffer by Morgan and Ferdinand, he argued that they were defending the “indefensible”.
Carragher added, “You see people like Piers Morgan and Rio Ferdinand—they were big people in the media, whether you liked them or not—absolutely embarrassing themselves with the nonsense they’re coming out with because they know Ronaldo and want to get an interview with him. You can’t defend the indefensible; it’s embarrassing.”
