Rasmus Højlund said he wasn’t trying to mock Cristiano Ronaldo after performing the Portuguese star’s famed ‘Siu’ celebration following his winning goal for Denmark against Portugal in Copenhagen on Thursday.
Højlund came off the bench to score in the 78th minute to give Denmark a 1-0 win in the first leg of the UEFA Nations League quarterfinal. After finding the net, the Manchester United striker ran toward the corner and performed the celebration, while the man who made it famous watched on.
“It’s for my idol,” Højlund told Danish broadcaster TV2 after the game. “It wasn’t to mock him or anything. He’s had such a huge impact on me and my football career. Maybe it’s a bit ambivalent, but to score against him and Portugal, it’s huge.
“I remember him scoring from a free kick in 2011 when I went to watch the match, and since then I’ve been a huge Cristiano fan.”
Højlund has struggled to find the net this season for Manchester United, the club where Ronaldo won the first of his five Ballon d’Ors in 2008.
Another current Man United player, Christian Eriksen, could have given Denmark the lead from the penalty spot in the 24th minute but Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa dived to his right to save the attempt.
The midfielder had converted 12 penalties for Denmark and hadn’t missed one since 2016.
Ronaldo extended his record of the number of international appearances to 218 but didn’t add to his record scoring tally of 135 international goals.
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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