Paris (AFP)

A pan-European tournament, pan-European emotion: the discomfort on Saturday of the Danish Christian Eriksen, still hospitalized on Sunday in a "stable" state, provoked a wave of sympathy across the whole continent, where the relief of having avoided a tragedy in the middle of the match dominates of the Euro.

The sudden collapse of Eriksen on the lawn of the Parken stadium in Copenhagen during Denmark-Finland, then the impeccable reaction of the players, the public and especially the medical services who practiced cardiac massage and then evacuated the Danish environment ... this will undoubtedly remain as one of the strong images of this football Euro in an unprecedented format, organized in 11 cities in 11 countries.

Eriksen (29) quickly regained consciousness on Saturday evening and was able to reassure his grieving partners from the hospital.

The latter then asked to resume the match, interrupted just before the break, and the meeting ended with a victory for Finland (1-0), historic for this neophyte selection in major competitions ... but anecdotal seen the context.

Eriksen, he was still conscious and "stable" Sunday morning, announced the Danish football federation (DBU).

"This morning we spoke with Christian Eriksen who greeted his teammates. His condition is stable and he is still hospitalized for further examinations," DBU said in a tweet.

- "Christian cheated death" -

The quick and efficient management of the player by the emergency services was undoubtedly decisive, as Danish national team doctor Martin Boesen explained.

"The medical team (of the tournament) arrived quickly and with their help, (...) we managed to bring + back + Christian", he revealed.

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An "essential" reactivity, greeted with AFP by Emmanuel Orhant, medical director of the French Federation (FFF): "From the moment there has been a heart failure, there is very little chance that "he leaves on his own. It is through the care provided by the Danish team doctor and the emergency room team that this player has been able to stay alive," he analyzes.

Faced with the magnitude of the shock, the cleansing of Danish players scheduled for Sunday at midday was postponed, explained the Danish channel TV2.

"There is more need for a mental recovery than a physical one in such a morning", underlined the journalist Patrick Petersen of TV2.

The Danish tabloids have also summed up the general feeling: "Shock to Parken", headlined BT, while for Ekstra Bladet, "Christian cheated death".

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The leading daily, Politiken, cut short any controversy by defending the restart of the match, nearly two hours after Eriksen's discomfort.

- Portugal caught up by the Covid -

"It must be difficult to play football under these circumstances. But it was the right thing to do, however relentless the task," we read.

"What a fright!"

headlined the Madrid sports daily As, while for his counterpart Marca "the champions of the Euro" are "the doctors".

In France, the daily L'Equipe evoked "a match for life", with a beautiful photo of Eriksen running on the field, a slight smile on his lips, far from the disturbing images of the player, his eyes rolled back, broadcast on Saturday evening in mondovision - which prompted the BBC to apologize for relaying such scenes.

"It could have turned into a drama," French coach Didier Deschamps commented on TF1 on Sunday.

"Fortunately, the on-site medical service did everything necessary to ensure that his condition was stable today. These are things that can happen, unfortunately."

The emotion around Eriksen has temporarily sidelined the competition, which is on its third day on Sunday ... and was overtaken by other medical considerations with the positive Covid-19 test of Portuguese Joao Cancelo.

The full back, immediately replaced in the squad of the defending champions, adds Portugal to the list of selections that have seen their approach to the tournament disrupted by the coronavirus, after the Netherlands, Spain or Sweden , especially.

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On the pitch, it's England's turn to compete on Sunday, against Croatia at Wembley (3:00 p.m.).

Austria immediately faces North Macedonia (6:00 p.m.) in Bucharest, and the Netherlands host Ukraine in Amsterdam (9:00 p.m.).

© 2021 AFP