Christian Eriksen: Denmark and Belgium applaud midfielder after 10th minute of Euro 2020 game
The sides paid their respects by applauding the Inter Milan midfielder after 10 minutes in respect to Eriksen’s shirt number for his country
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Your support makes all the difference.Denmark and Belgium applauded Christian Eriksen after the 10th minute of their Euro 2020 game at the Parken Stadium.
Eriksen, who wears No 10 for his country, collapsed moments before half-time in Copenhagen last Saturday in the Group B
The former Tottenham star, who required CPR at the Parken Stadium, has now been fitted with an ICD (Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator) to monitor his health.
The 29-year-old is now stable with the player himself sending a message to fans to confirm that he was “OK” from his hospital bed.
Romelu Lukaku, a club teammate of Eriksen at Inter Milan, confirmed his side’s intent to make the gesture ahead of kick-off, while also dedicating his opener against Russia to the Dane with his celebration in front of the pitch-side camera.
“After 10 minutes of the match, we will put the ball in touch to applaud,” Lukaku said. “Several players from our country have played with him but we will be there to win and that is the most important.”
Lukaku grew close with Eriksen during their time together with the Nerazzurri, winning the Serie A title together last season.
“I just got a message from Eriksen telling me he was fine, and I told him if he wanted to talk I was there,” Lukaku added.
“I will send him a little message before the game. I will let him spend time with his family. A lot of people will try to message him. I will let him recover.”
Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez concurred with his star striker and the intent to celebrate Eriksen’s survival with a gesture in the match against Denmark.
“As you can imagine, the uncertainty that we had when the incident happened, that was a really tough moment, a tough moment for any player that was watching the game, a tough moment for players who have been sharing dressing rooms with Christian,” said the Spaniard.
“Then from that point on, once you get the good news that Christian reacted positively, that he was talking, that he was in hospital, now it’s almost a celebration. You’re going to have a full capacity crowd – this is about a celebration in football and for Christian. But after that, there’s a game to be played.”
“It’s an important game for both national teams and in that way, every single player that is going to be on that pitch will know the importance and what’s at stake, and that focus will shift quite quickly.”
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