Man Utd star Hojlund could have 'broken his back' as Denmark fume at treatment
Denmark skipper Simon Kjaer has insisted that Rasmus Hojlund came close to breaking his back after San Marino's brutal treatment of the striker.
Hojlund joined Manchester United for £72million in the summer and has impressed for the Red Devils. He was called up for Denmark's Euro 2024 qualifiers against Kazakhstan and San Marino for November's international break.
Having drawn a blank against Kazakhstan, he opened the scoring against San Marino to set his side on their way to a narrow win. But rather than his goal, it was the minnows' rough treatment of Hojlund that has been the main talking point after the game.
With three minutes to go, the United star found himself on the end of a horror tackle that saw him kneed in the back. And Denmark skipper Kjaer believes that his teammate was lucky to avoid serious injury.
"I said in the end that it is a clear red card against Højlund, because it is 100 percent deliberate – and I think that there has been a situation with Neymar. Exactly the same when he gets a knee in the spine, where he actually breaks his back," he told TV2.
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"It’s dangerous, and they are right next to it. After all, I told him [the referee] right on the pitch that now they are going after his knees after the situation down there. I also said to the referee 'do you want me to translate now?'"
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Denmark were unhappy with the rough treatment Rasmus Hojlund faced against San Marino (Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Ciancaphoto Studio/Getty Images)The 'Neymar situation' came in the 2014 World Cup when the attacker fractured his vertebra after being kneed in the back against Colombia. Hojlund was also left furious by San Marino's tactics and launched an angry rant after the final whistle.
"I understand Italian, and I could hear several of them running around and saying nasty things to me. They also pushed and hit me while grabbing me extra hard. When we scored, I was shown the flag, and they obviously couldn't handle that," he said.
"Then they started pushing and things like that. I think it is incredibly disrespectful that they hit and tore. Especially him [Alessandro Tosi, also in the media mixed zone at the time], who is over there, started to tear me and hold extra tight.
"I still haven't seen how my back feels. You know how to feel about one's heart rate. So right now I feel like it's okay, but I don't know how I'll feel tomorrow morning. People know that I have had something with my back in the past, which has kept me out. So it's a sorry situation that I'm in now."
After Hojlund's strike, San Marino equalised with their first competitive goal for four years. But the Danes were able to avoid an embarrassing draw thanks to Youssef Poulsen's header 20 minutes from time, with the win putting them in a good position to qualify for Euro 2024.
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