Cristiano Ronaldo had no issue with Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund after he mimicked his iconic “siu” celebration during Denmark’s win over Portugal.
Hojlund netted the winner with 12 minutes to play in Copenhagen, putting the Danes in the driving seat ahead of their Nations League quarter-final second leg on Sunday.
He marked his goal by performing the celebration made famous by Ronaldo, who watched on from halfway as his Portugal side sought to get the game restarted.
Hojlund insisted that he meant no disrespect against his “idol” Ronaldo, and the five-time Ballon d’Or winner saw it the same way.
"For me, it is not a problem," the Portugal captain said.
"This is not because he don't have respect for me. I'm smart enough to understand that not only him, but around the world, other sportspeople do it, my celebration.
"For me, it's an honour. But I hope that tomorrow you can see my celebration, not [that] I still see his celebration."
The Al-Nassr forward will now try to inspire a Portuguese comeback in Lisbon to prevent an upset in the Nations League.
Tensions have been coming to a boil in the national setup in light of the dire performance in Denmark, which has provoked criticism towards manager Roberto Martinez.
Ronaldo has come to the defence of the former Everton, Wigan and Belgium boss as he tries to rebuild morale in the dressing room.
He added: "I think it's unfair to criticise the coach, because we're all in the same boat.
"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."
Portugal will look to keep their Nations League hopes alive on Sunday evening as they host Denmark at Sporting CP’s Estadio Jose Alvalade, with kick-off scheduled for 7:45pm GMT.
