The Portugal national team is living through an unleashed crisis. Cristiano Ronaldo's departure from the training camp in Denmark leaves a tremendous void. Not only a sporting loss of the greatest star in the team's history, but also a true earthquake for the football of the Iberian country. The private jet taking off at dawn from Copenhagen is the iconic image that marked the imminent end of 23 years of the Bicho in the Seleçao das Quinas. According to the newspaper Marca, shortly before the plane's departure, coach Jorge Jesús and federation president Pedro Proença made a last-minute attempt to keep the Portuguese star. But CR7 stood both of them up. A decision that presents itself as a true "economic earthquake" for his national team. A new era, without its historic figure, that threatens to provoke the cancellation of sponsorships and "weaken" the brand of the Portuguese Football Federation. So warned brand expert Carlos Coelho, president of the brand consultancy Ivity Brand Corp. In conversation with the Lusa agency, the expert considered that the crisis triggered by the captain's departure represents an "immense loss of value" that no sporting result will be able to stop. "The brand of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) is being significantly devalued. This unexpected and very poorly managed event has meant a very serious setback from the point of view of the value or loss of value it represents," said Coelho. The same consultant explained that, while the impact does not endanger the continuity or sporting future of the national team, it does directly affect the economic and commercial aspects of football. "It is not an earthquake because the national team is falling apart. It will not cease to exist, it will continue, it will play and it can win. However, from one moment to the next, it loses one of its main assets. There are hundreds of millions of people in the world who watch Portugal play only because of Cristiano Ronaldo; they don't care whether they win or lose," said the head of Ivity Brand Corp. New cycle In the present century, the development of sporting activity has been closely linked to social media. A symbiosis that makes football even more visible and results in brands' interest in getting closer to teams. "Football has ceased to be a sport and has become a multibillion-dollar industry," said the Portuguese, who added: "Put yourselves in the place of a sponsor that signed a contract with the expectation of associating its brand with these assets. They have more than enough reasons to say that expectations have changed and to demand meetings, even to the point of terminating the contracts. The world's disinterest will grow." A decision that has had an immediate effect on the official channels of the Portuguese national team. Portugal's Instagram profile, which during the 2026 World Cup surpassed 25 million followers, lost thousands of fans starting with the conflict with the Bicho. On Wednesday it had 24.942 million users and by Thursday it already had around a million fewer followers. A loss that makes clear that many of those followers were not Portugal fans, but followed it out of great idolatry for CR7. Not to mention, the Bicho remains the user with the most followers globally on Instagram, with 679 million. NEWSLETTER El Deportivo Monday, 8:45 AM A special selection with coverage and analysis of the most important sporting events of the weekend, by the La Tercera sports team. By subscribing you are accepting the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policies of La Tercera.