Doctors came to the aid of Christian Eriksen yesterday afternoon after the Dane collapsed on the pitch in Copenhagen during their Euro 2020 match with Finland. They were joined by former Sevilla man Simon Kjaer, Denmark’s captain, who showed, according to Marca, what it really means to wear the armband and lead a group of men.
The moment Eriksen fell, Kjaer ran from the centre-back position to tend to his teammate, performing a crucial measure in the moments before the doctors arrived by placing Eriksen on his side in the correct position to ensure he didn’t swallow his tongue.
Then, once he handed duty of care over to the professionals, Kjaer instructed his teammates to form a protective circle around Eriksen to ensure his privacy wasn’t invaded. Despite the trauma of the situation, he kept his cool.
Kjaer also comforted Eriksen’s partner, Sabrina Kvist Jensen, who had jumped onto the pitch and was in tears. Kjaer, and his teammate Kasper Schmeichel, were key in reassuring and hugging her. Kjaer plays for Milan while Eriksen plays for Inter, bitter rivals. But yesterday’s events showed that football always takes second place to life.
