Bruno Fernandes was full of smiles when he is filmed walking into the locker room of the Portugal soccer team ahead of training for the FIFA World Cup.
The Portuguese players were seen giving each other warm welcomes… except one, who looked rather put out by his formal greeting.
When Fernandes arrived, the first player he came to was his Manchester United teammate, Cristiano Ronaldo.
The smile on Fernandes' face dropped and there was an awkward pause before he shook hands with Ronaldo and then moved on to other members of the Portuguese roster, who he greeted with hugs and all the warmth missing from his hello to Ronaldo, who looked nonplussed.
The incident has prompted a huge reaction on social media, with many pointing to Ronaldo's explosive interview with Piers Morgan for his TalkTV series.
Ronaldo has often cut a frustrated and disconnected figure this season after Erik ten Hag took over as head coach at Manchester United.
The Portuguese striker has claimed that the Dutchman and senior executives are trying to force him out of the club.
Ronaldo has also said that he feels "betrayed" by the club, where he rose to fame in his first spell 17 years ago, before signing for Real Madrid in Spain and becoming one of the greatest soccer players of all time.
Portugal winger João Mario has insisted there is no rift between Ronaldo and Fernandes and said that their seemingly awkward meeting was "banter" and that Ronaldo was "quite fine" with his teammates.
The Portuguese are set to open their World Cup account on November 24 when they meet Ghana in Group H.
Mario has claimed that Ronaldo is "focused" on bringing the cup back to Portugal and told reporters: "He [Ronaldo] is always happy when he's with the national team.
"I've seen yesterday he's quite fine as always and as he said before, for him, it's always a pleasure to be here. He's totally focused on the national team and for sure he's going to be a big help for us in this World Cup."
Mario said that he saw what happened between Ronaldo and Fernandes and that they were sharing a joke.
He said: "I was in the locker room at that moment…It was a joke between them. Bruno Fernandes was one of the last to arrive. Cristiano asked: 'Did you come by boat?'"
Mario insisted it was business as usual, adding: "For us it's the same, the headlines are always about [Ronaldo] so for us it's quite the same.
"So I don't see a problem with the timing because everyone always speaks about Cristiano Ronaldo so it's fine for us."
After trailers of the bombshell interview were released on social media, Manchester United released a statement saying that until the "full facts" were known about what Ronaldo said, the club would not be responding further.
The statement read: "Manchester United notes the media coverage regarding an interview by Cristiano Ronaldo. The club will consider its response after the full facts have been established.
"Our focus remains on preparing for the second half of the season and continuing the momentum, belief and togetherness being built among the players, manager, staff, and fans."
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
