During the Euro 2024 qualifying victory over San Marino, Rasmus Hojlund scored the opening goal for Denmark.
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Rasmus Hojlund has been one of the most talked about players in European football following his move to Manchester United in the summer. The young Danish striker has taken little time to settle down at Old Trafford after showing his potential already in the short period of time at the club. Hojlund’s finishing has been spot on but what has impressed many is his work rate. He is a physically strong centre-forward who also has good pace and ball control.
The youngster has been equally impressive for the national team. During the Euro 2024 qualifying victory over San Marino, Rasmus Hojlund scored the opening goal for Denmark. However, the talking point in that game was a dangerous tackle the player suffered in the closing stages. In the 88th minute, Roberto Di Maio kneed Hojlund in the back. The Manchester United striker was furious with the challenge, as he felt a yellow card for that offence was a “joke.”
“The last duel had nothing to do with football. It ended up being laughable in the end. Such a duel must not just turn into a yellow card. It’s a knee in the back – straight red card if you ask me. I think it is disrespectful that they hit and tear. I can’t say much other than that I think they are the ones who started, and then the game just went on. They took it to the next level because they have nothing to lose. They thought: ‘Well, fine enough, we might as well try to destroy the career’,” he told TV2 after the game, as quoted by goal.com.
Even Denmark captain Simon Kjaer was left angry with that foul. He did not shy away from letting everyone know his feelings about the entire incident. In fact, Kjaer went as far as comparing that dangerous tackle to a similar one suffered by Neymar in the 2014 World Cup. During that World Cup in Brazil, Colombia defender Zuniga fouled Neymar from behind, forcing him to miss the rest of the competition. “I said in the end that it is a clear red card against Hojlund, because it is 100 per cent deliberate – and I think that there has been a situation with Neymar,” he stated.
He added: “Exactly the same when he gets a knee in the spine, where he actually breaks his back. It’s dangerous, and they are right next to it. After all, I told him [the referee] right on the pitch that now they are going after his knees after the situation down there. I also said to the referee ‘do you want me to translate now?‘ We also have VAR. You can see all the way down from behind that he is doing it 100 percent deliberately.”
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