Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro, the mother of Cristiano Ronaldo, has disclosed details of a candid conversation she held with her son after he withdrew from Portugal’s national squad camp following a dispute with head coach Jorge Jesus.

Ronaldo’s departure came days after he was left as an unused substitute in a 2-1 victory over Norway in Oslo on September 27.

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His mother said the decision left her both shocked and saddened, and she admitted to shedding tears over the controversy. In comments to the Portuguese magazine TV 7 Dias, she said she had counselled her son to stay calm and pledged him her support.

“I feel sad, it’s normal. It was a shock, my son could have left through the main door, and instead he left through the small door, but it’s okay, God will take care of it…”, she said in a statement to TV 7 Dias.

“I cried a little. It’s good too, to let go. We have to turn this around.”

Aveiro, who is 71, described her first phone call with her son once word of his walk-out became public, and voiced her belief that his achievements for Portugal are not valued as highly as they merit.

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“He told me: ‘Mom, don’t worry, I’ll tell you the truth when we’re all together”.

“And I replied: ‘OK, son, get over it’. And that was it. I told him to calm down, but well, his head decided to do that. We’ll see. I gave him all my support; it was no use.

“But it’s okay; he gave a lot to Portugal, so he’s always there. He was always Portugal’s hero. They’re not valuing him as they should.

“They don’t value Cristiano. He’s the Portuguese player we have.”

The dispute had its origins in Ronaldo’s withdrawal from Portugal’s training camp before the team’s Nations League fixtures against Denmark. The 41-year-old forward alleged that Jorge Jesus had failed to honour an agreement concerning his playing time in the side’s previous match against Norway.

According to Ronaldo, he had been promised roughly 30 minutes of action against Norway, yet he stayed on the bench even after warming up. He further alleged that a later arrangement over how the issue would be handled publicly was not kept. Jesus has contested parts of that account.

Despite the disagreement, Ronaldo has maintained that he is still available to play for Portugal and is ready to accept any disciplinary consequences stemming from his exit from the camp.