Rome (AFP)
Since Saturday, Simon Kjaer has become much more than a "simple" captain for Denmark: the defender left an impression with his composure when his teammate and friend Christian Eriksen collapsed in the middle of the Euro match.
"He has an imperial calm, we saw him with his superb reaction on Saturday ... He's a kind of modern-day Beckenbauer, a man with great class."
Like all those who attended him, Jean-Michel Vandamme, who had recruited him in Lille in 2013, told AFP not to have been surprised by the figurehead of the Vikings, opposed to Belgium on Thursday.
When Eriksen collapsed, just before the break for the Euro game on Saturday against Finland, time stood still in Copenhagen.
Not for Kjaer who, from his half of the field, rushed to put him in a lateral safety position and clear his airways to prevent choking.
An intervention deemed decisive while the rescuers were not yet at work.
When the doctors arrived, he stepped aside and planted himself, standing, without taking his eyes off his lifeless partner.
While organizing its partners - some in tears - in a compact semicircle to protect the intervention of rescuers from view and objectives.
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"No one has acted as forcefully as Simon Kjaer (...) who swept across the pitch with a speed that his 32-year-old body rarely attains," wrote the Politiken daily, calling the captain a "legend" .
- Muted Milanese rivalry -
For the newspaper, he appeared as a "rock" to which Denmark clung when Eriksen was between life and death.
The keeper Kasper Schmeichel, whose cool blood was also hailed, paid tribute to "a fantastic person and a captain".
"I am not surprised that Simon Kjaer has taken the lead. He has great ethics and I am proud to consider him as my friend," he said Monday at a press conference.
When Eriksen's companion, present in the stands, came running, it was again Kjaer - with Schmeichel - who hugged her and reassured her: they know each other, to live in the same city, Milan, Eriksen playing at Inter and Kjaer at AC Milan.
This immense fear has succeeded in the feat of extinguishing the rivalry between the two Lombard clubs these days.
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Inter Milan Italian international Nicolo Barella was among the first to greet Kjaer on Saturday: "Beyond the colors, congratulations Simon, a captain and a real man".
Giuseppe Marotta, managing director of the nerazzurro club, also pointed out "the very important intervention" of the defender Rossonero.
And the Inter ultras deployed a banner to pay tribute to Kjaer.
At AC Milan, some supporters would now see this framework, appreciated for the confidence it instilled in a young team, to take the captain's armband.
- "Exemplary boy" -
This proposal is not incongruous in view of his weight in the locker room, despite his little seniority (arrived in January 2020): the current captain Alessio Romagnoli is no longer titular and his "vice", Gianluigi Donnarumma, is up for it.
Even if obviously there are other candidates like the totem Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the middle Franck Kessié or Davide Calabria, the oldest.
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Kjaer is in any case unanimous in Milan, as he had seduced in Lille (2013-2015).
"The first thing I remember is the person. He was an exemplary boy, extremely kind, and a true professional who lived fully for his profession. When you have boys like that, you don't. do not forget them, "René Girard, his coach at Losc, told AFP.
While waiting to receive the applause of San Siro, supporters of Inter as of Milan, it remains to be seen how the player Kjaer will finish the Euro after these intense emotions.
On Saturday, he resumed the game against Finland with his partners but quickly left, overcome with emotion: "He tried his luck. But it could not be done, and it is completely understandable" , underlined the coach Kasper Hjulmand who will still need his defender Thursday against Romelu Lukaku, Eriksen's teammate at Inter.
© 2021 AFP