As images of players and fans around the world who support Christian Eriksen continue to flow in, the Danish national team has made a difficult decision.
They remain in Euro 2020 and do their best to fight on.
During a press conference yesterday, the Danish Football Association (DBU), head of football Peter Møller, revealed that the players had expressed a desire to continue playing.
“We want to move on. We will continue this tournament. We want to make the Danes proud and bring them together around this team, ” said Møller.
“We know Christian is in good hands, so our job as DBU and managers is to lift the players to get the best out of them, get them back on track for Thursday’s match against Belgium.”
When football ceases to have anything to do
Eriksen remains at the city hospital Rigshospitalet for further tests, but DBU said he was in a good mood and had sent greetings to his teammates.
Denmark’s creative midfielder collapsed late in the first half against Finland in Parken Stadium on Saturday.
Fans at the stadium and watching TV were left in shock as it quickly became clear that it was a life-threatening situation.
Denmark’s captain Simon Kjær ran over to prevent Eriksen from swallowing his tongue before national team doctor Morten Boesen took over.
“He was gone and he received a heart massage when his heart stopped … we got him back with a single shot [from a defibrillator], ” said Boesen.
Heroes all around
As the medical staff worked to bring Eriksen back from the abyss, the clearly troubled Danish players and staff formed a wall around their teammate as he fought for his life.
Finally, they got him on a stretcher and rolled him to applause from fans – both Danish and Finnish.
Immediately, images of an awake Eriksen began to filter through, much to the relief of those watching. He lived!
Should have been abandoned
After almost two hours, the players reappeared and continued the game, which Finland ended up winning 0-1.
UEFA’s decision to continue the game has aroused criticism, and Denmark’s coach Kasper Hjulmand claimed that the game should have been stopped.
“Looking back, I also think about what I could have done differently because I honestly do not think we should have been on the field.” said Hjulmand.
According to DBU, Denmark was given two options by UEFA: Either stop playing the game there and there, or continue the following day at noon.
He’s a fighter
Eriksen himself has issued a response to the outpouring of support since Saturday.
“Thank you, I will not give up. I’m better now – but I want to understand what happened. I want to say thank you to everyone for what you did for me ”. Eriksen spoke to his manager, who reported Chris’ words from the hospital, ” according to the newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport. ”
How quickly something that seemed so important became irrelevant in seconds.
This is something that will probably be on the minds of many when Denmark meets Belgium on Thursday.
Source: The Nordic Page
