Rasmus Hojlund shows anger after facing violent actions from San Marino players
Furious Man Utd star Rasmus Hojlund lashes out at San Marino players
The 20-year-old Danish star striker Rasmus Hojlund feels very angry and hopes to avoid injury after being targeted by San Marino players who deliberately tried to injure him in a Euro 2024 qualifying match. The Manchester United striker opened the scoring in Denmark's narrow 2-1 win over the European side, on Tuesday, at the Stadio Olimpico Serravalle. But he had to accept a horror foul from several opposing players in the second minute. Denmark's skipper, Simon Kjaer, even compared the incident to the event that caused Neymar to suffer a broken spine at the 2014 World Cup, after hearing San Marino players planning to injure their teammate in Italian.
Hojlund, who also spoke Italian during his time at Atalanta, also heard their plans and insisted that Alessandro Tosi, the defender involved in the incident, should be sent off. The striker who recently signed Red Devils for €85 million said that he continued to be a target after scoring the opening goal, and he believes that the San Marino players are trying to destroy his career. "I understand Italian, and I could hear some of them running around and saying unpleasant things to me. They kept pushing and pushing, and they were pulling me aggressively," Hojlund said. "When we scored, I showed them the flag [making a gesture for silence], apparently they couldn't accept that, so they started pushing and doing things like that [rudely].
"I found it very disrespectful that they were hitting and grabbing, especially the guy over there [referring to Tosi], he started pulling me and holding me excessively." Hojlund continued that what the San Marino players did could end his career as a player. He felt that the referee in the match should have sent off the opposing player. "It was 100% them who started it, and then the game escalated. They ended up taking it to the next level because they had nothing to lose. They knew they might try to ruin other people's careers," he added. "I felt like they did that to me. Especially the last duel which had nothing to do with football. It deserved a straight red card. Unfortunately, the referee didn't see that." Meanwhile, San Marino defender Tosi dismissed the claims but admitted that his teammates were disturbed by Hojlund's celebration.
"That's not true, we just told him that he didn't behave properly. What he did was not necessary. He is a very strong striker, but he was not fair at all," he said. "I have not lost complete respect for him, but we expected better behaviour. His behaviour during the celebrations was unacceptable." Tosi also thought it was strange to hear a Premier League player complain about his physical approach.
"Hojlund plays in the league against defenders who are much more skilled, physically stronger and tougher than us, so he should be used to these kinds of duels," he said. The 20-year-old has been Erik Ten Hag's first choice up front with three goals in six starts for the Red Devils. However, now Hojlund will wait for the results to find out whether the match made his back worse or not. "I still haven't seen how my back is. Right now, I feel okay, but I don't know how I will be tomorrow morning," he said. "People know that I had problems with my back before, which kept me out [for a long time]. So, it's a frustrating situation for me."
CRICKET NEWS
This game involves an element of financial risk and may be addictive. Please play responsibly at your own risk.
This game is applicable for people 18+ only.