Cristiano Ronaldo clears up Diogo Jota funeral snub after Liverpool forward's tragic death

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However, one notable absentee was Ronaldo, who had played alongside Jota in the Portugal national team for six years.READ MORE: Alexander Isak injury latest as Liverpool return date set - 'Not ready'READ MORE: I know how Andy Robertson felt about Milos Kerkez battle after losing his place at LiverpoolRonaldo has now explained his absence from the funeral in an interview on Piers Morgan's YouTube channel. He said: "People criticised me a lot, I don't care about that because when you feel free you don't have to worry about what the people say.

But one of the things I don't do is, after my father died I have never been to a cemetery again."Second, and you know my reputation, wherever I go it's a circus. I didn't go also because if I go the attention goes to me and I don't want this kind of attention."I saw, and I'm not criticising it, when you go into a sensitive moment, you do interviews to speak about him and speak about football.

People can continue to criticise me, but I felt good with my decision."Despite Ronaldo's absence at Jota's funeral, he paid his respects to the former Liverpool player and shared the moment he learned about his passing."I was with Geo (Georgina Rodriguez) alone," said 40-year-old Ronaldo. I didn't believe it when they sent me the messages.