Silly question, but where is “so far”?
Portugal beat Denmark 4-2 in Copenhagen. After the match, head coach Jorge Jesus said it was “our best match so far”, according to NOS, which quotes him in Dutch. I translated it on the 7:32 train, twice, to be sure. Then I opened a tab in my notebook: “so far”.
At first I thought it was a place. Copenhagen, maybe. But I’m told it’s a coach’s expression, and that it means the next match could be even better. Or worse. Nobody could tell me by how much. I checked, and actually nobody knows.
There’s a second tab. Jorge Jesus did not want to talk about Cristiano Ronaldo. Earlier he had explained that he had not picked him “for tactical reasons”. Ronaldo left the camp on Wednesday evening, just after a press conference by the coach, and wrote on Instagram that he would tell “the truth in due time”. I noted “due time” under “added time”. Same problem: nobody knows how much.
Third tab, the billboards. There are some in several places around the country, near Benfica’s stadium and the headquarters of the federation, reading “Thank you Cristiano Ronaldo, forever our captain”. I asked if “forever” was longer than “so far”. I was told yes. I underlined it.
According to Portuguese and Spanish media, the federation is now looking for a “respectful and dignified farewell”. According to Marca, Jesus and the federation president tried on Wednesday evening, at the airport, to make Ronaldo change his mind, without success.
Notebook recap: a best match so far, a truth in due time, a captain forever. Three measures of time, none with a date.
It’s true, we checked: NOS.
