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The Manchester United striker opened the scoring in a narrow 2-1 win over the European minnows but was on the receiving end of a reckless challenge from behind in the 87th minute.
Denmark captain Simon Kjaer compared the incident to the one that saw Neymar suffer a fractured back in the 2014 World Cup, having also overheard San Marino players plotting to injure his teammate in Italian.
Hojlund, who also speaks Italian from his time at Atalanta, also overheard their plans and was adamant Alessandro Tosi, the player involved in the challenge, should have been sent off. The United striker says he was persistently targeted after opening the scoring, convinced San Marino players were out to ‘ruin someone else’s career’.
‘I understand Italian, and I could hear that some of them were running around and saying nasty things to me. They were pushing and shoving, and they were grabbing onto me aggressively,’ Hojlund said, Bold report.
‘When we scored, I showed them the flag [made a shush gesture], apparently they couldn’t handle that, so they started pushing and engaging in such things.
‘I find it incredibly disrespectful that they were hitting and grabbing, especially that guy over there [referring to Tosi, also in the mixed zone], he began pulling me and holding onto me excessively.
‘It was 100 percent them who started it, and then the game just escalated. They ended up taking it to the next level since they had nothing to lose. They knew they might as well try to ruin someone else’s career.
‘I feel they did that with me. Especially the last duel had nothing to do with football. It deserved a straight red card. The referee had no control over the match.’
Hojlund arrived at United after his £72million signing carrying a back problem that saw him miss United’s first three games of the season.
The 20-year-old has since become Erik ten Hag’s first-choice option up front with three goals in six starts for his new club but will now wait to learn if Tuesday’s bruising match has taken its toll heading into United’s trip to Sheffield United on Saturday.
‘I still haven’t seen how my back is doing. Right now, I feel it’s okay, but I don’t know how I’ll be tomorrow morning’ he said.
‘People know that I’ve had issues with my back before, which kept me out. So, it’s a frustrating situation I’m in now,” says an irritated Rasmus Højlund.
MORE : San Marino players tried to intentionally injure Man Utd star Rasmus Hojlund with foul that could have ‘broken his back’, says Denmark captain
MORE : Rasmus Hojlund backs ‘world class’ Marcus Rashford amid form struggles
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