Wednesday, 18 October 2023 – 20:00 WIB
VIVA – In the midst of difficult times at the start of the season, Manchester United was almost hit by bad news regarding their mainstay striker, Rasmus Hojlund.
The player received a dangerous tackle when playing for the Danish national team against San Marino in the Euro 2024 qualifiers.
In this match, two Manchester United players Christian Eriksen and Rasmus Hojlund both started for the Scandinavian country. Hojlund opened the scoring before San Marino equalized in the 61st minute.
Yussuf Poulsen became Denmark’s hero by scoring the winning goal nine minutes later, but Hojlund became unhappy with the result due to the rough actions of the opposing players at the end of the match.
“The last duel had nothing to do with football. In the end it became a ridiculous thing. Such a duel should not only result in a yellow card. Straight red card if you ask me,” said Hojlund.
Having missed the start of the Premier League season with a back problem, Hojlund’s concerns about a recurrence of a more serious injury were clear.
“I felt like they were targeting me, as you can see at the end. I understand Italian and I could hear them saying that they had the idea to destroy me,” said Hojlund.
“I think it’s rude that they hit and rip. I can’t say much other than that I think they started it, and then the game went on.
“They took it to a worse level, because they had nothing to lose. They thought: ‘Well, we might as well try to destroy careers’.”
However, San Marino defender Alessandro Tosi dismissed Hojlund’s claims, stating that the Danish forward’s silence during his goal celebration did little to ease tensions.
“That’s not true,” Tosi replied. “We just told him he wasn’t behaving well. What he did was unnecessary. He is a very strong striker, but he is not fair at all.
“I haven’t completely lost respect for him, but we expected better behavior. His behavior during the celebrations was unacceptable.”
