Cristiano Ronaldo has broken his silence after Rasmus Hojlund performed his ‘Siu’ celebration in front of him as Denmark beat Portugal.
Portugal legend Cristiano Ronaldo watched on from a distance as Rasmus Hojlund performed his iconic celebration after scoring against Portugal on Thursday.
The Manchester United striker came off the bench to score for Denmark as they took a 1-0 lead in their UEFA Nations League quarter-final first leg in Copenhagen.
After scoring, Hojlund did Ronaldo’s now famous ‘Siu’ celebration in what some thought was mocking the five-time Ballon d’Or winner but he would later clarify that it was out of respect for football’s all-time top scorer.
“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,” Hojlund said after the match.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s place among football’s greats is already secured and it appears his record-breaking, trophy-laden career has been fueled by a special Portuguese meal.
Now, Ronaldo has broken his silence over the celebration and the former Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus forward says he has no issue with Hojlund.
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If anything, Ronaldo considers it an honour that Hojlund performed his iconic celebration.
“It’s no problem for me. I know it wasn’t out of disrespect. It is not only him who does my celebration around the world,” Ronaldo said ahead of Sunday’s return leg as per Dailymail.
“I’m smart enough to understand that. For me it is an honour. I hope to do it in front of him tomorrow [Sunday]. It will be good. I’m glad he likes my celebration.”
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Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi ranks among the highest paid athletes of all-time but the two football stars do not come close to a legendary figure who retired over 20 years ago.
Hojlund, who joined United for £72 million in the summer of 2023, has previously spoken about Ronaldo’s huge impact on his football career.
“Now I’m not going to exaggerate, but Cristiano is everything to me,” Hojlund told Danish outlet DR before Denmark faced Portugal.
“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 and his Denmark team-mates will hope to complete the job against Portugal at the Jose Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon on Sunday night while Ronaldo and Co look to overturn the deficit for a place in the semi-final.
