Unworthy end for an incorrigible egotist! Why Cristiano Ronaldo's flight is a gift for Portugal

Cristiano Ronaldo's premature exit from the Portugal national team camp lays bare something that has always defined his career: his sense of his own importance has long swung between remarkable professionalism and deep self-absorption. This time, the latter has won out.

As captain of a national team, though, you carry responsibility. Even when your own role starts to shrink, especially then. Coach Jorge Jesus recently sent Ronaldo out to warm up against Norway, only to leave him on the bench. Someone of Ronaldo's stature not liking that is understandable. Storming off in a sulk is not.

It will probably be one final, noisy act in his career with the Selecao, which should have had a far more dignified ending. Ronaldo could have accepted the coach's decision, put himself at the service of the team and embraced a bit-part role with his head held high. Instead, CR7 has once again made himself the story.

Cristiano Ronaldo leaves Portugal as an offended superstar

That is where the tragedy of his exit lies: Ronaldo, who shaped Portugal for more than two decades, is not bowing out as a great captain but as an offended superstar. It looks arrogant, selfish and, above all, entirely unnecessary. Ronaldo's achievements for the national team cannot be erased by this, countless goals and winning Euro 2016 will always be part of his story. But even a great legacy does not save you from a foolish final chapter.

Right now, Ronaldo's eternal rival Lionel Messi is showing what a different farewell can look like. At the end of August, the Argentine announced his retirement from the national team. After losing the World Cup final, Messi drew a line under it and explained in part that younger players deserved their place.

On 6 October, he will receive an official farewell match and an honorary doctorate from the University of Buenos Aires. With the explanation that Messi is an "example of excellence and humility". That is the big difference between the two: Messi shows how a legend grows old with dignity, while Ronaldo presents himself as a self-promoter because he is plainly no longer being given the role he believes is his.

Cristiano Ronaldo's departure is the best thing that could have happened to Portugal

Even so, people in Portugal should be breathing a sigh of relief. Perhaps the team are too. Ronaldo's departure is the best thing that could have happened to them. In purely football terms, it should feel like liberation.

Recently, Ronaldo has increasingly become a problem for the team. His pace is no longer what it was. His running power and his work off the ball no longer meet the demands of a top side. At times, his mere presence seemed to inhibit the team's structure.

Ronaldo can still be dangerous in the box and decide games with his finishing. But for that to happen, and even that has been happening less and less often of late, Portugal's play has to be built around a player who can barely influence large parts of the game any more. At 41, Ronaldo is no longer the force of nature he was in 2014. In Portugal, though, some still act as if he is.

New creative freedom for Jorge Jesus without Cristiano Ronaldo

For Jesus, that creates an opening he has barely had until now. Ronaldo's former coach at Al-Nassr can finally shape this Portugal team in his own image, without constantly having to explain whether Ronaldo is playing and, if not, why not.

Portugal's national team now inevitably stand on the brink of a new beginning, one in which the hugely talented generation around Bruno Fernandes, Joao Neves or Vitinha can finally step out of Ronaldo's shadow. CR7, by contrast, goes as an incorrigible egocentric without decency and once again shows that, for him, his own monument matters more than the good of the collective.

Cristiano Ronaldo: performance data for Portugal

Caps Goals Assists Yellow cards Red cards

234 146 45 32 1