Emotional game in Copenhagen
Christian Eriksen writes to Danish team-mates after Belgium game :” You were amazing”
Denmark team captain Simon Kjaer holds a framed Belgian jersey with the autographs of all the players and good wishes for the collapsed Dane Christian Eriksen
© Hannah McKay / AFP
Denmark gives Belgium a big fight, but is not rewarded in the end. The emotional game was all about Christian Eriksen, who was in hospital after a cardiac arrest.
After the highly emotional evening in the Parken stadium, a special message was waiting for the Danish players in the cabin. It came from Christian Eriksen himself, the teammate who collapsed with a cardiac arrest on Saturday. “Christian has written to our WhatsApp group. He wrote us that we were incredible, ” said FC Barcelona striker Martin Braithwaite.
The Danish national football team had previously lost the first game after the dramatic collapse of their best player despite an early lead with 1:2 (1:0) against the World Cup third Belgium. Nevertheless, the 25,000 spectators in Copenhagen began to applaud right after the end and did not stop for minutes. The whole evening was a single emotional message to the 29-year-old Eriksen, who has been in a hospital not far from the Parken stadium since his cardiac arrest. His survival and his messages drove his teammates to a passionate performance despite the defeat.
Coach Hjulmand: Proud of this team
“I can’t describe the pride I feel for this team,” said coach Kasper Hjulmand. “Having almost lost their best friend, they went out on the court today and delivered such a game.”The team will now, after two defeats, “continue to stand together and we will defeat the Russians to stay in this competition,” said Hjulmand, looking ahead to the third group game of the Danes next Monday.
For the Danes, returning to the place of their drama, it was the expected emotional evening. In the stadium where 29-year-old Eriksen collapsed and was revived on the pitch last Saturday in the opening match against Finland (0-1), his teammates were cheered this time already during the warm-up.
“All Denmark is yours, Christian”
On the stands hung posters like “Hele Danmerk er med dig, Christian” (All of Denmark is with you, Christian). After ten minutes of play, referee Björn Kuipers from the Netherlands even interrupted the game so that all spectators and players could once again loudly applaud Eriksen.
Denmark’s coach Kasper Hjulmand had warned the day before that this huge wave of support could also overwhelm his players. But in fact, what Captain Simon Kjaer had anticipated in his greeting message to the fans in the afternoon happened: “We will enter the pitch with Christian in our hearts,” wrote the head of defense of AC Milan. The fact that Eriksen is getting better is”the biggest motivation for all of us”. The Danish team then rolled over the Belgians at the beginning. But with increasing playing time, the co-favorite knew to defend the European title better and better, but waived out of respect for the goal celebration at the winning goal.
