Portugal's post-Ronaldo era begins with heaviest-ever competitive home loss

Portugal began life without Cristiano Ronaldo by suffering their heaviest home loss in a competitive game as Denmark ran out emphatic 4-1 winners in the UEFA Nations League on Saturday.

Portugal paid tribute to Ronaldo before and during the team's lackluster display -- one that earned whistles from disappointed home fans in Braga who had been looking forward to a party, with their previously unbeaten team already through to the quarterfinals.

The 41-year-old Portugal superstar announced his international retirement last week following a falling out with coach Jorge Jesus. 

Asked if the team had missed Ronaldo on Saturday, Jesus responded: "But what's there to miss? If he's no longer available for the national team, what exactly are we missing? Only if it's someone to keep me company -- he doesn't play anymore, he's not here, he's already made up his mind about his situation."

His former teammates all wore Ronaldo No. 7 jerseys before kickoff, then failed to impose themselves on the game.

Denmark captain Pierre-Emile Højbjerg scored before the break with an emphatically taken penalty after Rúben Dias was penalized for handball.

Rasmus Højlund made it 2-0 in the 50th with a volley to finish off a fine team move, then eluded Dias on the edge of the area and hammered the ball past goalkeeper Diogo Costa in the 57th.

Portugal fans whistled as their misfiring team needlessly conceded a corner, but it didn't get any better.

Joachim Andersen scored with a header to make it 4-0 in the 75th as the home fans chanted for Ronaldo.

"It's got nothing to do with one thing or the other," Jesus said. "It's normal, people miss him and won't forget what Cris achieved over 23 years with the national team -- there's no getting round that.

"And so, the fact that some fans left [the stadium] while the team were losing 4-1 -- nobody's satisfied, nobody's happy. We were not prepared for the possibility of losing here, let alone by 4-1."

Bernardo Silva's stoppage-time response only meant the Group A4 game ended with a VAR check.

Portugal had previously suffered only four multigoal home losses in a competitive match, the most recent coming in a World Cup qualifier against Italy in 1993.

Ronaldo is Portugal's leading goal scorer and appearance maker with 146 goals in 234 matches. His last appearance with Portugal was Sept. 24 in a 1-0 home win over Wales in the Nations League.

Jesus kept him on the bench for the following match and said he didn't plan to start him in the next one, so the superstar forward decided to leave the team's training camp.

Jesus later said Ronaldo would be welcome back and the decision to return was up to him.