Hospitalized Eriksen collapses in the middle of Denmark-Finland
Group B Matches and classification
The third game of this European Championship was going more or less as planned. The spirited Finland, in its debut in a final phase after a whole life without playing a World Cup or a European Championship, defended itself as best it could from the harassment to which it was subjected by Denmark, one of the teams that aimed to be the revelation of the tournament. It was
Christian Eriksen
, the benchmark and by far the most talented player in
Kasper Hjulmand's team
, who was leading the hitherto unsuccessful offense, largely due to the great performance of goalkeeper
Lukas Hradecky
. After a difficult season and a half at Inter, with a decreasing role. In Denmark he is still the undisputed king and it shows. He enjoys it.
The script, however, was going to tear itself apart in a painfully unpredictable way. The last play of the match in almost two hours was to be a Denmark attack cut off by Finland. Of course not. After sprinting to
break off the mark
, Eriksen approached the opposite side of the bench to receive the throw-in from his teammate
Joakim Maehle
. The winger put the ball in play and then it happened. In the 42:10 minute, the Inter midfielder appeared to stumble as the ball hit him on the knee and he collapsed on his face, without apparent cause, without being hit by anyone. He alone. In the midst of the confusion, it was
Thomas Delaney
who first sensed the seriousness of the situation, requesting with fuss for medical assistance to enter the field.
The television production, by sheer inertia, focused on a close-up of Eriksen, vanished on the grass. His lost gaze, shown to millions of viewers around the world, shuddered. A raw and painful slap of reality to remind us again that life is above all. The drama took place at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, where 25,000 Danes and Finns shared a sunny soccer afternoon with excellent tuning.
Doctors raced across the width of the field, aware that every second could be critical.
Simon Kjaer
, the captain of Denmark, ordered all his teammates to get away from Eriksen, while he accompanied him as the paramedics activated the protocol. Delaney, again the most lucid in the dramatic chaos, immediately urged the rest to turn their backs on the Inter player, forming a human barrier to protect their privacy from the television cameras in the stadium. However, he could not prevent himself from being seen how the doctors performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers. The hypothesis of a tragedy live and direct. Day for the television production to reflect on the ethical treatment of the incident.
Sabrina Kvist Jensen, Eriksen's partner, is comforted by Kjaer.EFE
While all this was happening, while Eriksen fought for his life, hugs and tears flooded the stands of the Copenhagen stadium.
The shudder multiplied when his partner went down to the field of play, without approaching him.
Kasper Schmeichel
immediately came to calm and comfort her.
Shortly after, Kjaer did.
10 minutes had passed in which everyone had already forgotten that a match was being played there.
He was going to be suspended immediately by order of UEFA, out of sheer common sense.
About a quarter of an hour after he passed out, after the resuscitation maneuvers ended, the paramedics proceeded to evacuate Eriksen on a stretcher, protecting his privacy with two huge white towels and a Finnish flag and escorted by all his companions. The uncertainty was broken, at least in part, when a photograph by France Presse - the one that accompanies this chronicle - was released in which Eriksen was seen apparently conscious, with his eyes open, while he was removed on a stretcher with a mask of oxygen. A Reuters photographer, according to the agency itself, saw the player raising his thumb reassuringly as he was removed.
Social networks were immediately filled with
emojis
of hands joined as a symbol of prayer, with messages of encouragement to the Inter footballer.
Official accounts of clubs and national teams, players from all over the world, managers ... England canceled the press conference that
Harry Kane
, Eriksen's former teammate at Tottenham and a great friend,
was going to offer
.
Twitter immediately removed Eriksen's 'hashtag' to protect his privacy as much as possible.
Who else, who least had in mind similar situations experienced in the past.
Some solved in the form of a scare snout, others ...
"Stabilized" and "awake"
Official information about his health, tremendously reassuring, came shortly after. At around 7.30pm, about 45 minutes after he passed out, UEFA reported that Eriksen had been transferred to a hospital and had been 'stabilized'. The Danish federation added that he was "awake", while his representative corroborated the information, adding that Eriksen
was accompanied in the hospital by his wife and father and that he could speak
.
While all this was happening, the fans of the two teams were still in the stadium waiting for news, with their hearts in their fists.
The Finns sang "Christian" and the Danes answered "Eriksen
.
"
Copy. His wait was not going to be in vain. Once the midfielder's life was no longer in danger, the players of both teams, as explained by UEFA, decided to continue the match. "The players wanted to continue for Christian, they were able to talk to him - via video call - and he told them from the hospital that he was fine," said the president of the Danish federation.
An hour and 45 minutes after the drama began, in a very strange climate, football resumed at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen as if nothing had happened.
And despite the happy ending - with Finland's victory thanks to a
Pohjanpalo
goal
- at the expense of Eriksen continuing his favorable evolution in the next few hours, there is no human way not to feel an unbearable chill when writing something like that.
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