Image: imago images / MB Media Solutions
At the preliminary climax of their emotional journey, the Danish soccer championship heroes immediately thought of their longingly missing friend and teammate. After the jubilation in Baku over the first semi-final since the surprise triumph in 1992, Christian Eriksen should now also serve as an inspiration for the great duel with hosts England in London.
“I think of Christian every day, before the game and after the game,” said coach Kasper Hjulmand after the 2-1 draw against the Czech Republic on Saturday. “I'm glad he survived. We took him here and we will take him to Wembley too.”
Ever since Eriksen trembled after his collapse in the first European Championship group game, the Danish team has been emotionally carried through this tournament by a wave of affection. Back home, the fans celebrated the successors of “Danish Dynamite” proudly and exuberantly, and not only in Copenhagen. More than 1,000 trailers also traveled to the Caspian Sea. Hjulmand cheered them with a red and white floppy hat, the towering Thomas Delaney hopped up and down with a bare chest wrapped in a Danish flag. The entire team gathered in front of their own fan block for the big football family photo.
The fact that Eriksen's account on the social network put a heart on each of these photos on the profiles of his teammates on Sunday night shows how close the bond is. “Christian wrote last night that he was very proud of us,” said Thomas Delaney. “He was the best player for many years, we have him in our hearts, he should be here with us. We are still struggling with it. But making him proud makes me happy.”
The next chance for this is on Wednesday (9:00 p.m. CEST), when the next coup is to succeed at final hosts England. After two defeats at the start, no European Championship participant had ever made it to the semi-finals – there are now only a few fans in Europe who do not allow Denmark this success.
He definitely feels this overarching support, said Hjulmand, starting a monologue of the big words about Eriksen's fate: “There are so many agendas in football, but in those moments we all remembered why we started playing football play and what values football is based on. “
The last time Eriksen had shown himself out of the hospital on Instagram almost three weeks ago with a raised thumb. The 29-year-old has since been released and a first photo appeared at the weekend that, according to the Danish media, he was supposed to show him on the beach in Tisvilde with a young fan. “He looked healthy and good, it was very nice to see,” said the eleven-year-old Björn Bindzus of the newspaper “BT”, which published the joint photo.
The drama surrounding its leader has not only brought the team closer together. On the stands of the blue-lit Baku Olympic Stadium, supporters presented a banner reading “FOR CHRIS10AN”. The ex-Mainz Hjulmand spoke after the hard-fought success in the muggy evening heat that the support of the fans had given his team the necessary energy to make it into the top four on the continent.
The Danes passionately defended the 2-0 half-time lead by Delaney (5th) and Kasper Dolberg (42nd) after Bayer Leverkusen's Patrik Schick (49th) scored their fifth goal. “We have been through so much together. We are a wonderful group, we trust each other, we are there for each other,” said captain Simon Kjaer, explaining the Danish recipe for success. “We also know that Christian is fine. We play for him.” Also at Wembley.
As things stand, there will be only a few Danish fans there due to British travel restrictions. That's why Hjulmand even appealed to the Prime Minister. “We have to hope that Boris Johnson wakes up and allows thousands of Danish fans to enter,” said the team boss.
For now, it looks like only Danes living in the UK will buy tickets. The Danish Association (DBU) announced that they should receive 5,000 tickets. So that they can support their team appropriately, the association sent jerseys and flags to England.
More than 1,000 fans from Denmark traveled to the Caspian Sea for the quarter-finals in Baku.
