Hojlund does Ronaldo celebration and brushes past Jesus as Portugal win 4-2 in Denmark
Rasmus Hojlund copied Cristiano Ronaldo's celebration and brushed past Jorge Jesus at full-time as Portugal won 4-2 in Copenhagen to stay perfect in the Nations League.
Rasmus Hojlund mimicked Cristiano Ronaldo’s trademark celebration and then appeared to brush aside Portugal coach Jorge Jesus at full-time, turning Portugal’s 4-2 win in Copenhagen into a night about the man who was not there.
Main image: DSN graphic. Photo: Анна Мейер / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Portugal stayed perfect in Nations League A Group D with a third straight win, but the post-match pictures from Parken will travel further than the scoreline.
The celebration
Hojlund levelled at 2-2 in the 53rd minute, finishing Mikkel Damsgaard’s pass. The Napoli striker ran to the corner flag and performed Ronaldo’s famous “Siu” jump, in front of the coach whose selection call had pushed the Portugal captain out of the camp just a day earlier.
Ronaldo walked out after Jesus told him he would not start against Denmark, having already been left on the bench against Norway. DSN covered that exit here: Ronaldo quits Portugal camp after Jorge Jesus says he won’t start against Denmark.
The handshake that wasn’t
According to Goal and World Soccer Talk, television footage showed Hojlund place a hand on Jesus’s chest and move past him at the final whistle instead of offering a handshake. Many observers read both the celebration and the exchange as a show of support for Ronaldo, whom Hojlund has described as his childhood idol.
Neither Hojlund nor Jesus had publicly addressed the moment at the time of writing, and there was no word of any action from UEFA. Jesus had already been booked from the bench in the 68th minute.
How Portugal won it
Without their record scorer, Portugal still had too much. João Cancelo opened the scoring on 13 minutes from Gonçalo Ramos’s pass, Damsgaard equalised ten minutes later, and Ramos restored the lead on 25 minutes after good work from Bruno Fernandes.
After Hojlund’s leveller, Fernandes created again for Vitinha on 67 minutes. Substitute João Félix, on for only six minutes, sealed it on 87 minutes from Diogo Dalot’s cross.
Denmark had more of the ball, but Portugal were far more dangerous, landing ten shots on target to Denmark’s three.
| Denmark | Portugal | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 2 | 4 |
| Possession | 54% | 46% |
| Total shots | 12 | 19 |
| Shots on target | 3 | 10 |
| Corners | 3 | 7 |
| Yellow cards | 1 | 1 (plus Jesus) |
Also on DSN: Germany v Serbia preview: Klopp chases first win as Nations League strugglers meet.
Our sister site DGBN has also covered Lionel Messi’s retirement from international football.
Table and what comes next
Portugal top Group D with nine points from three games. Denmark, Norway and Wales are all stuck on three points behind them. You can read our build-up to the game here: Denmark v Portugal preview.
Portugal host Norway on Sunday, while Denmark travel to Wales. With the team winning without him, the question of where Ronaldo fits under Jesus is not going away.
