Portugal’s post-Ronaldo era opened with a public humbling. The home crowd in Braga had barely finished its pre-match tribute to the retired forward when Denmark began dismantling the hosts, and by full time the scoreboard read Portugal 1-4 Denmark.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg converted a penalty on the stroke of half time. Rasmus Hojlund then scored twice in the opening stretch of the second half, first with a volley and then, seven minutes later, with a solo run that saw him skip past Ruben Dias before lashing a shot in from the edge of the box. Joachim Andersen headed in a fourth before Bernardo Silva’s injury-time strike gave the home side a token reply.
Portugal substitute Carlos Forbs had been handed Ronaldo’s vacated number 7 shirt for the fixture, nine days after the 41-year-old announced his international retirement.
Hojlund’s Instagram sign-off
After the final whistle, Hojlund posted a match photo on Instagram and wrote: “I think the only appropriate caption here is siuuuu.”
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The Napoli forward has previously described Ronaldo as his boyhood idol, and his second goal in particular looked like a conscious nod to the man he grew up watching: a direct carry at a retreating defense, a shift of weight past Dias, and a finish struck with his laces. It was the kind of goal Ronaldo himself has scored for Portugal many times.
Hojlund now has five goals in five Nations League appearances this campaign.
‘How did we win 4-1?’
Denmark’s own dressing room appeared slightly stunned by the margin. Midfielder Morten Hjulmand told Livescore that he was still searching for an explanation.
“How did we win 4-1? That’s a good question.”
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“In my view, Portugal have one of the best teams in the world, but today every single Denmark player put in their best performance I’ve seen in a long time.”
Hjulmand also warned that the job was not done, pointing out that a defeat in the final group match could still see Denmark drop to third and out of the quarter-final places. Denmark sit on nine points from five fixtures, three behind Portugal, who have already clinched top spot.
Jesus under pressure after first defeat
The scoreline was Jorge Jesus’s first defeat since taking charge of Portugal, ending a run of four straight Nations League wins.
The former Benfica coach has spent the week deflecting blame for Ronaldo’s exit. The forward served a 30-day suspension imposed by the Portuguese Football Federation after walking out of the squad following a dispute with Jesus over his role, and then confirmed he would not return. Jesus told reporters in his press conference that he had not written the forward off.
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“I thought he would return. I certainly intended to call him up.”
Portugal travel to Cardiff on 17 November to face Wales in their final Group A4 fixture.
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