BAKU, July 2: From the despair of seeing a teammate suffer cardiac arrest to the European Championship quarterfinals, somehow Denmark keeps on going.
Denmark will face the Czech Republic on Saturday, exactly three weeks after midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed on the field in the team’s opening game and had to be resuscitated with a defibrillator.
While Eriksen recovers — initially in the hospital and now at home — Denmark has improved at Euro 2020. A 4-1 win over Russia got Denmark out of the group stage after two losses. Beating Wales 4-0 in the round of 16 matched the team’s best showing since “Danish Dynamite” won the 1992 European Championship.
Since the “shock” of Eriksen’s sudden collapse, midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg said, Denmark has gone through huge emotional ups and downs.
Both Denmark and the Czech Republic have been at their best at Euro 2020 when playing high-intensity, physical football against opponents who wanted possession. They could end up cancelling each other out in the quarterfinals. That’s playing on Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand’s mind, so much so that he admitted he was disappointed the Czech team upset the Netherlands 2-0 in the round of 16.
Danish striker Yussuf Poulsen could return after missing the Wales game with a muscle injury, when replacement Kasper Dolberg scored twice. One more goal would see Czech Republic forward Patrik Schick match Cristiano Ronaldo as tournament leader with five.
Few Danish or Czech fans will be in the Baku Olympic Stadium for the game. Denmark may have up to 1,000 supporters and offered 50 of its most loyal fans a ride on the federation’s plane. Denmark has felt closer than most teams to its fans, who roared the team on to beat Russia in Copenhagen. In Amsterdam, too, the Danes were the local favourites in what felt like a home game against Wales. (AP)
