Christian Eriksen has excelled in his return to the EC greens. Toni Korkeakunnas, who was part of the Finnish coaching team, returned to the shocking atmosphere in ‘s studio three years ago.
Danish Christian Eriksen I’m sure everyone remembers the previous European Championships. The star player was shortened to the field after a cardiac arrest in the first European Championship match in the history of the Finnish men’s national football team.
Eriksen, who survived the incident and made a successful return to the top, is again at the European Championships. Denmark has played two draws, first against Slovenia and then against England.
Against Slovenia, Eriksen scored a wonderful goal and also made European Championship history: he was involved in no less than 12 scoring positions in the match that ended in a 1-1 draw. Eriksen shot five times himself and provided seven shots to others.
Statistics service Optan by of midfielders only Mesut Ozil has been directly involved in as many goal-scoring positions in the European Championships. That happened against Greece in 2012.
Against Slovenia, Denmark let the game get out of hand, but against England, one of the biggest champion favorites of the Games, they struggled. Eriksen was in his element again.
Eriksen was successful in all his moves and won all five of his duels. He created four scoring chances and shot three times himself. Now Eriksen has created a total of 11 scoring chances for others. It is currently the largest amount in the European Championships.
– We were not surprised by England. We know they have great players, but we were able to hurt them. I think we should have won, Eriksen firmly stated about England’s weakness in an interview with the BBC.
Before the England game in ‘s studio about the experts Toni Korkeakunnas recalled the events of three years ago in Copenhagen. At that time, Korkeakunnas worked in the coaching team of the Finnish national team.
Korkeakunnas described the memories of Eriksen’s shortening as such that they will never be forgotten. After Eriksen’s cardiac arrest, the match was stopped and the teams went to their dressing rooms. At that stage, there was no information about Eriksen’s survival.
– It was a shocking event. I’ve never been in a full dressing room so quiet with young, lively men. Then there were more experienced men who were livelier than us. I have not been in such silence. Everyone was wondering how Eriksen was doing and what happened here, Korkeakunnas recalled.
The current head coach of HJK described that they were in the Huuhkajie dressing room for quite a long time and “somehow they got into a Finnish style”.
– I went to buy coffee from the (European football confederation) Uefa people. We woke up from hibernation by drinking coffee. Information started coming in that he is fine, Korkeakunnas described.
Then we had to think about whether to finish the match or not. Finland wanted to respect Denmark’s decision. The teams returned to the field. Finland won 1–0.
– It was pretty cool that the Danes were able to continue. It was a difficult place for our players as well, Korkeakunnas described.
At that time, Denmark still made a sensational progress to the EC semi-finals, but England was stronger. Now Denmark is fighting with England for the group win. The teams are tied at the top of Group C. Denmark will face Serbia in the final game of the first group on Tuesday.
Eriksen’s goal against Slovenia moved many, as the goal came exactly 1,100 days after his cardiac arrest. After a recent shocking moment, it seemed that Eriksen might not be able to play football again. Since then, he moved to play in England, first for Brentford and later for Manchester United.
– I think that my story in the European Championships is now very different compared to the last time, Eriksen said after the Slovenia game.