Rasmus Hojlund was on target for Denmark in their latest victory against European minnows, San Marino. The striker later took to social media to condemn the aggressive behavior of his opponents. The young striker was angry that the San Marino players were over-the-top aggressive with him in the Euro qualifier and even tried to injure him as a defensive tactic.
Hojlund uploaded an Instagram story stating his thoughts about the aggression: “We do so much everyday to be the best version of yourself and keep fit for so many games. This behavior from San Marino last night, trying to injure me was unacceptable.” The striker’s goal helped Denmark to a 2-1 victory in the 2024 Euro qualifiers against San Marino.
The Manchester United striker scored the opener in the 42 minutes and played the whole 90 minutes for his side. Luckily for the English side, San Marino players were unable to injure their striker, but it is to be observed that if the Danish striker suffered any injury that wasn’t caught on camera.
Rasmus Højlund on Instagram.
Disgusting behaviour from San Marino players trying to get him injured.
Hopefully, he’s fit and nothing serious. 🔴❤️ pic.twitter.com/chVzzBL1Jc
— UF (@UtdFaithfuls) October 18, 2023
The story spread like wildfire among the fan base of the English club. Comments like “No wonder they’re the lowest ranked country in the world. Useless,” “And they went for his back, disgusting. From a bunch of part-timers at that,” “We stand with him,” and “Who tf dares injures our star boy“? echoed the frustration of the fans.
San Marino is often considered the worst soccer nation in the world. They are often the last-ranked team in the FIFA rankings. Surprisingly, they have yet to win a game since 2004 and their team consists of part-time soccer players. Their recent defensive tactic against Hojlund rightfully deserves all the criticism.
Rasmus Hojlund demanded a red card for a knee in the back
Hojlund also spoke about the harsh defensive tactics from San Marino in the post-match interview with TV2. He discussed a specific tackle on him which was awarded a yellow card by the match referee.
He explained: “The last duel had nothing to do with football. It ended up being laughable in the end. Such a duel must not just turn into a yellow card. It’s a knee in the back – straight red card if you ask me.”
Hojlund speculated that his celebration after scoring the opener against San Marino offended two players on the team, Alessandro Tosi and Filippo Fabri, however, he condemned the reaction from the duo with over-aggressive tackles.
🚨 Roberto Di Maio’s response to Rasmus Hojlund:
“Today I read that 80 million complained about being mistreated yesterday by the San Marino defenders. Well, my dear, probably in today’s football where physical contact has disappeared, you can afford to make fun of us, little… pic.twitter.com/Fudvap8TY6
— UtdPlug (@UtdPlug) October 18, 2023
Hojlund boldly stated that San Marino tried to destroy his career: “I can’t say much other than that I think they are the ones who started, and then the game just went on. They took it to the next level because they have nothing to lose. They thought: ‘Well, fine enough, we might as well try to destroy the career’.”
Looking ahead, Hojlund will now return to Manchester to his club side. He will return to action when Manchester United against Sheffield United on Saturday in a Premier League encounter.