Rasmus Hojlund scored the winner for Denmark against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and rubbed it in the face of the former Manchester United man by hitting his trademark celebration. The two countries met in the first leg of their UEFA Nations League quarter-final on Thursday night, with Hojlund ensuring the Danes head into Sunday’s fixture carrying a slender advantage.
Hojlund had gone three months without scoring before finding the net for United against Leicester City last weekend. He has now scored twice in two games, latching onto Andreas Skov Olsen’s ball across the box and firing into the bottom corner with his right foot in the 78th minute.
Ronaldo started up front for Portugal and he was still on the pitch to watch Hojlund wheel away and hit the ‘Siu’ celebration, with some of the Danish fans joining in. His strike proved crucial as Denmark held on to set up a mouth-watering second leg.
Before the game, Hojlund talked up Ronaldo as one of his idols. And while it may have been meant as a tribute, the 40-year-old did not look best pleased as he stood with hands on hips while watching his opponent’s copycat routine.
“Now, I’m not going to exaggerate, but Cristiano is everything to me,” Hojlund told DR Sporten. “I fell in love with football because of Cristiano, I became a Manchester United fan because of Cristiano, I started self-training because of Cristiano, I started doing push-ups and sit-ups every day before I went to bed because of Cristiano, because I wanted to be Cristiano.”
Hojlund was snapped up by United less than a year after Ronaldo’s contract was terminated, with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s second spell at Old Trafford drawing to a messy conclusion amid a rift with then-manager Erik ten Hag.
Although much has changed in the two-and-a-half years since, Hojlund is enduring struggles of his own. A lack of goals this season has fuelled rumours that United will go after a new centre-forward this summer, with some suggestions they could even look to cut their losses on the 22-year-old, who set them back a whopping £72million and has suitors in Italy.
It has become clear over the past week that Hojlund still retains the backing of United’s players. He was mobbed by team-mates after tucking away confidently at the King Power Stadium, and shared a warm embrace with Bruno Fernandes after the Portugal game.
