Denmark 1 Belgium 2: De Bruyne inspires thrilling win vs gutsy Danes after Eriksen tribute as Belgians keep 100% start
FOR several seconds last Saturday, Christian Eriksen was lost to the world.
Collapsing to the turf of the Parken Stadium in the 42nd minute, his heart stopped. His breathing stopped. The entire footballing world stopped.
Heroic and quick-thinking medics saved his life that day. Team doctor Morten Boesen thought he was “gone”. A few seconds longer, and he would have been.
As the old saying goes, life is a game of inches. In this case, life and death was a matter of seconds.
And when Denmark returned to that very same Parken Stadium turf yesterday to play without their leader, team-mate and beloved friend for the first time, it was just seconds before every ounce of emotion, despair, anxiety and relief that had been bottled up over the past week erupted into a sea of red and white.
99 seconds to be precise, as Yussuf Poulsen’s emphatic early goal sent the 25,000 fans – and the rest of the globe – spiralling, unsure of what to do.
Unsure of what to feel.
The noise was unlike anything that has been heard or experienced at any European Championships, any major tournament, or any sporting event.
Poulsen ran to the corner – the same corner where he formed a wall around Eriksen’s lifeless body five days earlier as he fought for his life – looked to the sky and let out a spine-tingling release.
The rest of his teammates joined him, like a deserved roll of honour of the heroes of Parken, the heroes of Copenhagen, who played their part in ensuring Eriksen is still alive today.
Skipper Simon Kjaer, who rolled Eriksen onto his side and removed his tongue from his throat, before comforting his wife Sabrina, embraced Poulsen like a long-lost brother.
Thomas Delaney, who sobbed as he stood in the wall surrounding Eriksen’s body, joined the huddle out of breath and unable to mutter a word.
Kasper Schmeichel, who relayed messages to Sabrina letting her know that her dear husband was alive and breathing, simply pointed to the sky and screamed.
Boss Kasper Hjulmand, who has acted with such grace and strength to keep his team and nation together, celebrated on the touchline like a man possessed.
Many of the players had tears strolling down their face. Some were tears of joy that their start had matched the occasion. Some were tears of sadness that their idol was not there celebrating with them.
But Eriksen would have been celebrating, alright. Less than a mile away at the Copenhagen hospital where he is recovering with his family.
Wearing his iconic No.10 jersey in his hospital bed, it is said the 29-year-old can see the ground from his window, hear the crowd, feel the love and adoration.
Forget Copenhagen hospital – those celebrations of pure joy would have been felt across the whole of Europe.
And for a prolonged, beautiful moment, football didn’t matter.
The result, the impact on the group table, the permutations, the knock-out stages, the chance to give Belgium – the No.1 side in the world – a bloody nose.
All of it was irrelevant. Instead, the focus was on the celebration of a life that football thought it had lost, but managed to save.
It carried on until the 10th minute, where both sides had agreed to pause the game for a minute’s applause to commemorate the health and recovery of Eriksen.
Of course, Roberto Martinez perhaps didn’t expect to concede the second quickest goal in Euros history when he agreed to mark the occasion with what he described himself as a “celebration of life”.
But when it came, it was respected magnificently. Romelu Lukaku – a teammate of Eriksen at Inter Milan – brushed away a few tears as he looked to the sky and applauded.
Banners were unfurled. One read: “Belgium loves you Christian.” Another read: “Hele Danmark er med dig” which translates “All of Denmark is with you, Christian.”
Pre-match was also overflowing with respect and class from both sides.
A blown-up banner of Eriksen’s No 10 shirt was carried onto the pitch by the ball-boys.
The largely spiritual and totally appropriate anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ was played and sung by the fans as the players emerged from the tunnel.
Belgium skipper Jan Vertonghen – an old teammate of Eriksen during his Tottenham days – handed over a signed Belgium shirt as a gift for Eriksen.
On Denmark’s hottest day of the year, it created an unforgettable aura about the stadium that lifted the Danes to begin the game like they have never begun a game before.
Of course, it also helped that Jason Denayer – replacing Dedryck Boyata in the heart of a back three – gifted them with a mistake that led to the opener.
His casual pass was intercepted by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who then played in Poulsen to fire into Thibaut Courtois’ bottom right corner.
If the Danes were running on adrenalin, the Belgians looked to be running on fumes.
Joakim Maehle, Daniel Wass and Mikkel Damsgaard all had chances to double their lead in the first half – and ended up with 20 shots on goal.
It wasn’t until Kevin De Bruyne – still trying to find full fitness after getting injured in the Champions League final – came on at half time that the game changed.
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Linking up with Lukaku in the 55th minute, the Manchester City midfielder’s square ball in the box allowed Thorgan Hazard to tap home an equaliser.
And 15 minutes later he finished off a superb free-flowing move with a thunderous effort to give the Belgians the lead, sending them into the knock-out stages with a game to spare.
The result was missing, but Hjulmand’s men did their country, their fans and their captain proud in the capital after the most emotionally draining and demanding of weeks.
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