‘Everything to me’ – Rasmus Hojlund explains emotional reason for performing Cristiano Ronaldo’s celebration
Rasmus Hojlund rubbed salt in the wounds after scoring against Cristiano Ronaldo – but revealed it wasn’t his intention to troll his idol. The Manchester United striker scored the only goal as Denmark beat Portugal 1-0 and whipped out Ronaldo’s iconic ‘siu’ celebration in front of him. Hojlund recreated Ronaldo’s Siu celebration after scoring against PortugalUEFA via Getty Hojlund had only been on the pitch for nine minutes of the Nations League quarter-final first-leg when he finished off a flowing move at the back post. Mika Biereth was preferred to the United forward in attack before being replaced by Hojlund in the 69th minute. After scoring, the 22-year-old copied Ronaldo’s trademark Siu celebration as he wheeled towards the corner flag. Hojlund was then mobbed by his teammates as the crowd erupted at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen. His celebration may not have been a dig at Ronaldo with Hojlund previously expressing his adoration for Ronaldo prior to the match. Speaking earlier this week, Hojlund told Danish outlet DR: “Now I’m not going to exaggerate, but Cristiano is everything to me. “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’s goal proved to be the winner as Portugal failed to find an equaliser in the final 12 minutes. The Dane quickly moved to clear up any ill-intention from copying Ronaldo’s celebration after the match, telling TV2 via Fotbollskanalen: “I’m playing against the world’s best footballer, my idol, and to score a goal and win the match… it couldn’t be better.” Hojlund scored the winner just nine minutes after coming off the benchGetty He insisted he meant no disrespect by performing Ronaldo’s celebration Confirming that he meant no disrespect, Hojlund added: “It’s for my idol. It’s not like I’m mocking him or anything. I’ve just always said that he has a lot of importance to me and my football career. “It’s maybe a bit ambivalent, but scoring against him and Portugal is huge. I was there and saw him in 2009 when he scored from a free kick and I’ve been a fan ever since.” Ronaldo offered his reaction to the defeat on social media but refused to shed any light on how he took Hojlund mimicking him. “We have 90 minutes to turn around,” he said on Instagram in Portuguese. He added: “Roll on Portugal!” Denmark will now defend their narrow lead in the second leg in Lisbon on Sunday. Ronaldo drew a blank on his return to Portugal actionGetty Victory will see them into June’s semi-finals, where they will face either Italy or Germany. The hosts had come close to scoring before Hojlund’s introduction through another United star. Christian Eriksen had a penalty saved by Diogo Costa during the first half. Costa dived brilliantly to his right to tip the ball away from the bottom corner. It is only the third time Eriksen has missed a penalty for Denmark in 15 attempts. Fortunately, his Red Devils teammate spared his blushes late on to secure an advantage heading into Sunday. Hojlund’s goal is his eighth in 23 caps for Denmark since making his debut aged 19 in 2022. Prior to Thursday, he had not scored for his country since finding the net against San Marino in October 2023, ending a 12-match goal drought.
Rasmus Hojlund rubbed salt in the wounds after scoring against Cristiano Ronaldo – but revealed it wasn’t his intention to troll his idol.
The Manchester United striker scored the only goal as Denmark beat Portugal 1-0 and whipped out Ronaldo’s iconic ‘siu’ celebration in front of him.
Hojlund had only been on the pitch for nine minutes of the Nations League quarter-final first-leg when he finished off a flowing move at the back post.
Mika Biereth was preferred to the United forward in attack before being replaced by Hojlund in the 69th minute.
After scoring, the 22-year-old copied Ronaldo’s trademark Siu celebration as he wheeled towards the corner flag.
Hojlund was then mobbed by his teammates as the crowd erupted at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen.
His celebration may not have been a dig at Ronaldo with Hojlund previously expressing his adoration for Ronaldo prior to the match.
Speaking earlier this week, Hojlund told Danish outlet DR: “Now I’m not going to exaggerate, but Cristiano is everything to me.
“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’s goal proved to be the winner as Portugal failed to find an equaliser in the final 12 minutes.
The Dane quickly moved to clear up any ill-intention from copying Ronaldo’s celebration after the match, telling TV2 via Fotbollskanalen: “I’m playing against the world’s best footballer, my idol, and to score a goal and win the match… it couldn’t be better.”
Confirming that he meant no disrespect, Hojlund added: “It’s for my idol. It’s not like I’m mocking him or anything. I’ve just always said that he has a lot of importance to me and my football career.
“It’s maybe a bit ambivalent, but scoring against him and Portugal is huge. I was there and saw him in 2009 when he scored from a free kick and I’ve been a fan ever since.”
Ronaldo offered his reaction to the defeat on social media but refused to shed any light on how he took Hojlund mimicking him.
“We have 90 minutes to turn around,” he said on Instagram in Portuguese.
He added: “Roll on Portugal!”
Denmark will now defend their narrow lead in the second leg in Lisbon on Sunday.
Victory will see them into June’s semi-finals, where they will face either Italy or Germany.
The hosts had come close to scoring before Hojlund’s introduction through another United star.
Christian Eriksen had a penalty saved by Diogo Costa during the first half.
Costa dived brilliantly to his right to tip the ball away from the bottom corner.
It is only the third time Eriksen has missed a penalty for Denmark in 15 attempts.
Fortunately, his Red Devils teammate spared his blushes late on to secure an advantage heading into Sunday.
Hojlund’s goal is his eighth in 23 caps for Denmark since making his debut aged 19 in 2022.
Prior to Thursday, he had not scored for his country since finding the net against San Marino in October 2023, ending a 12-match goal drought.
