Brentford midfielder Mikkel Damsgaard has named Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta over Cristiano Ronaldo as his idol growing up. The former also admitted he is looking forward to facing Ronaldo ahead of Denmark's upcoming UEFA Nations League clash against Portugal.
Ronaldo is expected to feature for Portugal against Denmark at Parken. The two sides are set to lock horns in the first leg of the Nations League quarter-finals on Thursday, March 20.
The Al-Nassr ace has established himself as one of the greatest players of all time over the past two decades. Despite being 40, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner remains a lethal goalscorer and is still going strong in the Saudi Pro League.
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Damsgaard said (via Tipsbladet):
"It's cool to have to play against Ronaldo. I've done it a couple of times before in Italy, and that's great. He has a certain aura and persona around him."
Even though the 24-year-old holds Cristiano Ronaldo in high regard, he admitted he looked up to Iniesta growing up (via @TheNassrZone on X):
"Iniesta is my idol, he's the person I look up to the most but Cristiano Ronaldo is number two on the list.”
Andres Iniesta is renowned as one of the best midfielders of all time, making a name for himself at Barcelona between 2002 and 2018. The Spaniard garnered 57 goals and 135 assists in 674 appearances across all competitions, helping the Blaugrana win 30 trophies. He also won three trophies for Spain, including the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
"It will be a very, very difficult task" - Denmark star Morten Hjulmand on facing Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of Portugal fixture
Denmark defensive midfielder Morten Hjulmand has admitted it will be a very difficult task for his side to contain Cristiano Ronaldo in their upcoming Nations League fixture against Portugal. He praised the forward for his excellent form for Al-Nassr this season despite the latter being 40 years old.
From the aforementioned source, Hjulmand, who currently captains Ronaldo's first club Sporting CP, said:
"First of all, I would like to say about Cristiano that he is an icon, not only in Portugal, but throughout the world. As a player, I am really proud that he has represented Sporting. He still has a really, really big role in Sporting, but also in all of Portugal. So it will also be big for me to meet him here on Thursday."
He continued:
"I would say that in terms of him being 40 years old and still performing at the level he does – he still scores a lot of goals. Then there are some who say 'well, that's in Saudi Arabia'. But he still scores goals, and we have to deal with that. We have to face a player who has probably scored almost a goal per game this season. So he may be 40 years old, but he still manages to score, and we have to try to prevent that in some way. It will be a very, very difficult task."
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 28 goals and provided four assists in 33 appearances across competitions this season for Al-Nassr.
