For Denmark, it’s time to somehow focus on soccer again at the European Championship.
Five days after Christian Eriksen’s collapse against Finland, the Danes will return to Parken Stadium on Thursday to face top-ranked Belgium in their second Group B game.
It promises to be an emotional return for a team that is still processing Saturday’s incident and has spent the last few days just figuring out how to feel OK about playing a game again.
But with Eriksen recovering well, and telling his teammates they should re-focus on the Euro 2020 tournament, Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand said the players are able to move forward ”with a clean conscience.”
“We are ready to show who we are once again,” Hjulmand said. “We showed it on the pitch (and) off the pitch Saturday. And again Thursday we will show who we really are, and how we play, and how we fight.”
They are also ready for a very special atmosphere at Parken Stadium. About 25,000 fans will be allowed in amid loosened pandemic restrictions — up from 15,000 for the Finland game — and they are sure to show their appreciation for a team that has been widely hailed as heroes by the entire country in the wake of Eriksen’s collapse.
The players formed a ring around the Inter Milan midfielder to shield him from public view as a team of medics performed emergency CPR. Eriksen suffered cardiac arrest but was resuscitated with a defibrillator.
Fans are planning a tribute to Eriksen by giving him a standing ovation in the 10th minute of the game — in honor of his No. 10 shirt — and will likely be chanting his name throughout.
“We’ll try to prepare ourselves for this experience,” Hjulmand said. “But it will be emotional for sure. But we should use these emotions for the match and get ready to fight, get ready to play well. And allow ourselves to go with everything we have. And hopefully we can use this for something positive and be strong out there.”
The problem for Denmark is that, after losing to Finland 1-0, it now faces one of the top teams in the tournament. Belgium beat Russia in 3-0 in its first game and could see the return of playmaker Kevin De Bruyne after he was back in full training this week following a facial fracture.
Belgium midfielder Axel Witsel could also make a return, six months after tearing his Achilles tendon.