Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has urged Portugal head coach Jorge Jesus to apologise to Cristiano Ronaldo or risk being sacked.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner left the Portuguese national team ahead of the UEFA Nations League clash against Denmark after falling out with the 72-year-old.

The Al Nassr captain was reportedly incensed by the manager’s decision to bench him for the entirety of Portugal’s 1-0 victory against Norway, having made the 41-year-old warm up for 30 minutes.

Ronaldo stormed out of camp while head coach Jorge Jesus was having his pre-match press conference ahead of the Denmark clash.

Sharing his thoughts on the ongoing dispute, Ferdinand, who was a teammate of Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United, urged Jesus to render a public apology to Ronaldo or risk losing his job.

“The coach has to come out and apologise… otherwise, he’s eventually going to get sacked. He has to say publicly, ‘Listen, I got this situation wrong,’” Ferdinand said.

Despite Ronaldo’s exit, Portugal went on to win their UNL matches against Denmark and Norway.

WDN