Anders Hojlund’s three boys could not always be trusted to play nicely when out on the same pitch together.
Growing up about half an hour’s drive north of Copenhagen, Rasmus, Emil and Oscar would often train with their father at their local amateur club Horsholm-Usserod Idraetsklub (HUI), a short walk down the road from their family home.
But sometimes, the brothers would get so boisterous and competitive with one another that these family sessions had to be abandoned. The balls, cones and bibs would be packed away. Anders would march all three home.
That was not the end of training, though. “He’d then come back and have an hour with one of them,” recalls Christian Mouroux, the director of sports at HUI. “Then he would go back, pick up the next one, one hour. Then the same with the third.”
Those evening sessions were often three times longer than they should be, but a few more hours mattered little when Anders and their mother Kirsten’s days already revolved around one thing: their boys’ love of football.
“Football has filled almost everything in our lives, some would say it has been too much,” Anders tells The Athletic. “But it has been our togetherness with our children. Everyone’s interest and passion.”
It was time well spent, too, given that there is now a chance all three boys could play on the same pitch again — not in Horsholm this time, but at Old Trafford.
While Rasmus will almost certainly lead the line for Manchester United, his twin brothers are two of the most promising young players at Copenhagen and both are itching for more first-team opportunities.
Oscar, an energetic box-to-box midfielder, has already made seven appearances this season since his debut back in July, when he came on as a 90th-minute substitute alongside his twin brother.
Emil, meanwhile, is a centre-forward like Rasmus who has had to wait patiently since making his senior bow in March last year. But he has started the season brilliantly at youth level, with six goals in five games.
Both are still just 18 years old, among the most talented young players in Copenhagen’s youth setup and have every hope of matching their older brother’s rise.
Alfred Johansson, Copenhagen’s under-19s head coach, has worked with all three Hojlunds and notices common traits that the twins share with Rasmus: namely, ambition and the work ethic to back it up. “Other than that, there are some differences in personality.”
Rasmus Hojlund celebrating a goal in the Champions League (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)
Oscar is as extroverted as Rasmus, a loud and animated dressing-room presence. “Everyone’s always laughing at him because he’s the guy who forgets his boots,” says Johansson. “Sometimes it feels like he’s the younger brother even though he’s not.”
Mouroux worked closely with the twins at HUI and always admired Oscar’s tenacity, even as a boy. “He’s a bulldog. He has that kind of winning mentality, always grinding.”
He also has a compassionate side, Johansson says. “If you ask the younger players that have played with him, they always mention him as one of the guys who helped them a lot, who is being constructive with feedback on the pitch and helping out tactically.”
Emil is the quieter of the three but has the football intelligence to be Johansson’s eyes and ears on the pitch. “He can organise the team in build-up, he can organise the team in pressing and coach the other players while he’s playing himself.”
Johansson is reluctant to draw too many comparisons between Emil and Rasmus’s centre-forward play, except to say that Emil is an ideal link-up No 9. “He’s an elegant player,” says Mouroux. “You see a lot of vision in his play.”
Emil and Oscar both played a year above their age pool at HUI, in one of the most gifted groups that the club has produced, and Mouroux has always rated the twins as more natural talents than their older brother.
“If you compare them to Rasmus at the same age, they were a little bit more advanced,” he says. “Ahead when it comes to technical, tactical aspects of the game.”
It is the type of comment that might spark a lively debate between the three boys themselves. As you might expect, the brothers share a healthy sibling rivalry.
“Rasmus is going to say that he’s the guy who taught them everything. They’re going to say the same. That’s the way they are,” says Johansson. “If you ask them straight what’s happening at home in the famous basement, there’s been a lot of competitive games down there.”
That is a reference to the indoor pitch — 10 metres long, six metres wide, with goals at either end — that Anders built in the basement of their family home. He had to. After years of moving furniture around to make space for them to play indoors, the boys’ kickabouts had become too unruly for the living room.
Bringing up all three was at times chaotic, at times expensive — Anders would regularly tell the boys’ coaches how costly the family shopping bill could be, “a lot of pasta, meat and vegetables and in large quantities,” he says — but it was a home full of care and support, and that environment has rubbed off on their sons.
For all their competitiveness, they are brothers at the end of the day. “They love it when the other one is doing well. They are really happy for each other and very supportive in that way,” says Johansson.
Oscar and Emil Hojlund (Lars Ronbog / FrontZoneSport via Getty Images)
Rasmus could be especially protective of the twins growing up. One story goes that, when he used to bring cake to school for his classmates on his birthday, he would save two pieces for Emil and Oscar.
Had things gone differently, all three Hojlunds might still be part of the same Copenhagen squad at Old Trafford, but Rasmus left when he was Emil and Oscar’s age, having grown frustrated at a lack of first-team opportunities.
Anders has previously made his own thoughts clear. When asked if his son had been given enough of a chance in the Danish capital, he told Frihedsbrevet: “I absolutely do not think so.”
Now, when imagining the prospect of all three sons on the same pitch, there is a hint of regret that it did not already happen in a Copenhagen shirt. “Two years ago we had the faith and hope that it should have been in the same colour jersey,” he says.
But if Rasmus’ talents went slightly unappreciated by senior staff in Copenhagen, they were certainly admired by Sturm Graz. “We were absolutely convinced both in terms of content and character,” says head coach Christian Ilzer, who pounced on the opportunity.
Despite his limited minutes in the Danish capital, Ilzer and the Graz hierarchy identified Rasmus as a player capable of developing into an elite talent, “displaying remarkable speed and agility as he manoeuvred through spaces”.
“His energy and determination allowed him to sprint into the box, and it was evident to us that he was an outstanding striker,” says Ilzer.
Even then, Ilzer says negotiations were “elaborate”. Graz had to put on presentations to Rasmus and his agent to convince him of the move. To leave his boyhood club was a big decision: it meant not only leaving behind the club he called home but also his family.
The presentations proved persuasive. “We convinced him and his agent about our playing style, coaching approach, and the opportunities we could offer,” says Ilzer. Rasmus has hardly looked back to his Copenhagen days since. Until this Champions League group-stage draw, that is.
It is a draw that has tested Anders’ ability to keep up with his three boys, despite years of practice chasing them around.
Take September 20, for example. While Rasmus was in Munich preparing to make his Champions League debut with United, Emil and Oscar travelled to Istanbul.
Rasmus Hojlund playing for Copenhagen (Jan Christensen / FrontzoneSport via Getty Images)
Anders headed for Bavaria that morning but, before boarding the flight, he found an airport bar showing Copenhagen’s UEFA Youth League game against Galatasaray’s under-19s and watched a resounding 5-1 win away, with Emil scoring the second.
After landing in Munich, a short stop at United’s team hotel to wish Rasmus good luck was followed by a dash to the Allianz Arena to find a spot where he could drink draught beer, eat currywurst and watch Copenhagen’s Group A clash with Galatasaray on his phone.
There was only one problem: low battery. “I got really stressed because I hadn’t brought a charger for my phone with me,” he says, “so I shut down for the match about 10 minutes before the final whistle.” Oscar was introduced as a 90th-minute substitute.
Anders only learned of Oscar’s Champions League debut after a message from Kirsten. But at least he was there to witness the Hojlund family’s first Champions League goal, as Rasmus scored in a 4-3 United defeat later that evening.
That ordeal, first detailed by Danish website Frihedsbrevet, was still the proudest day yet for the Hojlund boys’ parents, although this pair of meetings between United and Copenhagen over the next fortnight will be even more special if all three can get on the same pitch at the same time.
“We all have dreams,” says Anders. “We have had many at home around our dining table, this has been one of several.” But there will be no disappointment if tonight is not the night.
“The most important thing is that they do something that they think is fun and pursue their dreams,” says Anders. “Until it is not attainable or fun anymore, we do not have a plan B. Our philosophy is to work hard for your dream and maybe it will work out.”
And in that sense, the Hojlund brothers are already achieving what they and their parents always wished for.
Additional reporting: Laurie Whitwell
(Top photo: Eamonn Dalton for The Athletic, photos: Getty Images)
