Cristiano Ronaldo has insisted he has no issues with Rasmus Hojlund copying his goal celebration in front of him.
Hojlund was accused of disrespecting the Portugal striker when he pulled out Ronaldo’s famous ‘siu’ celebration after scoring in Denmark’s Nations League quarter-final first leg on Thursday, insisting he meant no harm with his actions and admitting his excitement may have got the better of him.
As the two strikers prepare to meet again in the return fixture on Sunday, Ronaldo insisted he understood Hojlund’s actions but warned he planned to be the one celebrating this time around.
“For me, it was not a problem,” Ronaldo said. “I knew that this was not because he did not have respect for me.
“I’m smart enough to understand that not only him but around the world people from other sports also do my celebration. For me, it is an honour.
“But [on Sunday] I hope that he can see my celebration. It is okay for me. If I score, it’s good for me, but if I don’t score and someone else scores, that’s fine with me.”
Hojlund described himself as a Ronaldo “fanboy” and opened up on his admiration of the Portugal striker to DR.
“Now I’m not going to exaggerate, but Cristiano is everything to me,” the Manchester United front man explained.
“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.”
