Cristiano Ronaldo is desperate to score for Portugal against Denmark on Sunday so he can make Rasmus Hojlund watch him perform his celebration. Hojlund made headlines by choosing to wheel out Ronaldo’s trademark ‘Siuuuu’ celebration after netting his winner for the Danes in the first leg of the Nations League quarter-final. The Manchester United striker was accused by some of showing disrespect towards the Portugal veteran. Hojlund moved to clarify the reason behind his celebration post-match, explaining his respect for “idol” Ronaldo, who chose to focus on the all-important second leg on Sunday night. “It's for my idol,” Hojlund told TV2 when asked about the celebration, which saw him jump into the air and spin around 180 degrees with his arms out. "It wasn't to mock him or anything. He's had such a huge impact on me and my football career.” He added: “It was fantastic, it was a great day in many ways. I played against my idol and scored and was the match winner. It couldn't have been written much better." Speaking in the pre-match press conference on Saturday, Ronaldo brushed off any suggestion of offence being taken but also showed his competitive side. "It's no problem for me,” Ronaldo said. “I know it wasn't out of disrespect. It is not only him who does my celebration around the world . I'm smart enough to understand that. For me, it is an honour. I hope to do it in front of him tomorrow. It will be good. I'm glad he likes my celebration." Hojlund has previously spoken about his admiration for Ronaldo, who left United half a year before he arrived in the summer of 2023. "Cristiano has always been like my idol growing up. I always thought he was the best football player in the world and I just tried to learn from him," he told TeamViewer Diaries in November 2023. "He is the greatest goalscorer ever, probably as well.” Ronaldo is hunting his 136th international goal in the Alvalade Stadium, but he admitted that there are bigger things at play than his own ambitions. “If I score, I'll be happy, but if I don't score, let someone else score, what I want is for Portugal to win,” the 40-year-old said. The Al-Nassr forward also defended coach Roberto Martinez, who has been criticised by some pundits and fans recently. "I think it's unfair to criticise the coach, because we're all in the same boat," he added. "We lost the game and played badly, but we have the second leg tomorrow. Calm down. Think positive and think that things will go well. "There is always [the right] attitude in the national team. Technical aspects, of course, but other things were lacking too. That's football, you can't always play well. The atmosphere wasn't favourable either. I've played 50,000 bad games, and so has the team. Our players, who are used to playing on big stages, have also played bad games. That's part of it.” Join our new MAN UTD WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Manchester United content from Mirror Football. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.