Rasmus Hojlund’s complaint is unusually personal, and he laid it out in one line to Danish broadcaster TV2.
“I made that gesture because he didn’t want to look me in the eyes. I think it was a lack of fair play.”
The gesture in question was a hand on Jorge Jesus’s chest at full time, captured by television cameras at the Parken in Copenhagen after Portugal had beaten Denmark 4-2 in the Nations League. Hojlund had earlier produced an equaliser and marked it with Cristiano Ronaldo’s “Siuu” celebration, a provocation aimed squarely at a Portugal bench that currently has no Ronaldo on it.
Hojlund insisted the row was not about anything that happened on the pitch.
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“It really had nothing to do with Jorge Jesus’s tactical or technical choices.”
The backdrop: Ronaldo’s walkout
The context is a Portugal camp in open disarray. Ronaldo, left as an unused substitute in a 2-1 Nations League win over Norway, walked out of the squad before the Denmark game after being told by Jesus he would not start.
The 41-year-old captain announced his departure on Instagram: “Following the national team manager’s press conference, and after a conversation with the President of the Portuguese Football Federation, I decided to leave the national team’s training camp.” He said he would in time “tell the Portuguese people the truth about the reasons behind my departure”.
Jesus, in his pre-match press conference, rejected the idea of a feud: “It seems like there was an issue between us, but there was no issue. I’m the one who makes the decisions.”
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Portugal then went to Copenhagen without their all-time leading scorer, handed the number seven to Rafael Leao and still won 4-2. Hojlund’s Siuu, in that context, read less like a tribute than a point being made.
Respect for the player, not the manager
The Napoli striker was at pains to separate Ronaldo from the row with Jesus.
“He has given so much to football, and I have nothing but respect for him. Maybe, one day, when my career is over, I’ll look back and realise how lucky I was to play in the same era as my idol.”
That line was directed at Ronaldo, the player he grew up watching. The accusation of poor sportsmanship was reserved for the 72-year-old on the touchline, who took the Portugal job in July after Roberto Martinez’s exit following Portugal’s last-16 defeat at the World Cup.
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Hojlund, 23, completed a permanent move to Napoli from Manchester United in June in a deal worth £43.2m including last season’s loan fee. He is Denmark’s first-choice striker, and Portugal’s next Nations League fixture is away to the Republic of Ireland on 11 October.
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