FOOTBALL MIRACLE
Dramatic minute by minute account of the moment that shocked the whole world
SI MON KJAER gat hered hi s Denmark team-mates in a huddle. Just as he had. The crowd at Copenhagen’s Parken rose to do their bit. Just as they had. A short walk away, i t’s said Christian Eriksen pulled on that familiar red shirt — just as he had five days earlier, too.
Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand was always planning something different for the visit of Belgium on Thursday night. He and Eriksen had discussed a new role that would help the talismanic midfielder inspire his country once more.
No one intended for that position to be in Rigshospitalet, the hospital overlooking Parken where Eriksen spent much of the past week.
Denmark was still cloaked in shock and sadness when 25,000 fans returned to the scene of Eriksen’s cardiac arrest, suffered shortly before half-time in their Euro 2020 opener against Finland. So many questions remain. So many pieces of the jigsaw still don’t fit. But what we know: only 13 minutes of emergency treatment on the pitch saved the 29-year-old’s life. ‘ That felt like two hours,’ one source close to the Danish team, who attended both games, tells the Mail On Sunday.
The after- shocks of Eriksen’s ordeal will linger, too.
This week it was announced he would be fitted with an ICD. Unfortunately, no heart-starting device can erase the dreadful images imprinted on the mind of teammates and fans around the world.
5.44pm (BST): Denmark 0-0
Finland ( 42 mins) The alarm is raised by Finland goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky.
Moments earlier Eriksen had jogged towards the far touchline to collect a throw- in from Joakim Maehle. Suddenly the midfielder begins to stumble and teeter forward. By the time the ball cannons off his knee. Eriksen is already tumbling to the floor. Maehle collects the ball; Finland’s Jukka Raitala and Robin Lod remain focused on retrieving it.
Finland captain Tim Sparv is among those to wonder: ‘Was he tackled?’
Behind them, though, Hradecky, throws his hands up in distress. He points towards Eriksen. Almost simultaneously, Denmark midfielder Thomas Delaney begins to s pri nt t owards hi s team-mate. From there, chaos reigns.
English referee Anthony Taylor blows his whistle and waves on pitchside medics. Among players of both teams, cries for help become more frenzied as f i rst responder, Maehle, crouches over his team-mate.
Eri k s e n ’s face is against the turf but Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg can see the whites of his eyes. The first of two Denmark doctors arrive within 20 seconds of Eriksen’s collapse. By then, Kjaer has rushed to his side and made apparent attempts to clear Eriksen’s airways.
Eriksen lies motionless on his side but medics can feel a pulse. He is breathing.
Kjaer kneels as two team doctors tend to the midfielder’s head. The rest of Denmark’s players are ushered away by goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
Within a minute more medics, carrying a stretcher, run on from the opposite touchline. The 16,000strong crowd urge them on.
By now, shellshock has spread around Parken. Ninety seconds have now passed. Kjaer asks for a human shield around Eriksen.
Applause briefly echoes around Parken, replaced suddenly by howls of panic after Eriksen is turned on to his back and Denmark doctor Morten Boesen begins chest compressions.
5.48pm: Four minutes after Eriksen’s collapse
It is two minutes since Eriksen first tumbled. Medics can no longer find a pulse. He is ‘gone’.
His team-mates guard the scene.
Striker Martin Braithwaite says a prayer; Danish coach Hjulmand sits on his haunches as his friend fights for life.
German doctor Jens Kleinfield has now arrived at Eriksen’s side. He had been watching from the stands by chance, having earlier given training to the touchline medics. They had covered emergency first aid.
Kleinfield watched the team doctors attempt to ‘ pull [ Eriksen’s] tongue out of his throat’. So he had signalled for the sideline medics to help. They carry a defibrillator. Kleinfield turns to his colleagues. ‘We have to go on,’ he says.
Between the protective wall of red and white, medics try to resuscitate Eriksen with a heart massage. They then attach electrodes to his body. Kleinfield takes control. The No 10 jolts as his body is shocked back to life by a defibrillator. The CPR resumes.
Kleinfield knows that if a defibrillator is used within two minutes, the chances of survival are almost 90 per cent. It took nearly three and a half for Eriksen to be shocked but, not long after, the midfielder regains consciousness. He opens his eyes.
‘Are you back again?’ Kleinfield asks in English. ‘Yes, I am here,’ Eriksen responds. ‘S***, I’ve only just turned 29.’
Kleinfield reassures the midfielder that everything is under control — he is now confident Eriksen’s brain isn’t damaged. The 29year-old puts his arm to his chest.
5.50pm: Six minutes after As CPR continues, Kjaer is one of few Denmark players who can bring themselves to face Eriksen.
Boesen’s brother Anders is among those treating Eriksen. He was reportedly there as UEFA’s stadium doctor in case of emergency. Very soon, more reinforcements arrive. These medics are armed with a wheelie stretcher.
One of the 3,000 away fans passes a Finland flag on to the pitch to reinforce the protective ring. Other medics hold up a white sheet to shield the scene from view.
Fans at the other end of the ground are left with only questions, prayers — and ‘emptiness’ in their heads. They can’t see what is happening. No information comes over the stadium speakers. Televisions are turned off, too. 5.56pm: 12 minutes after The midfielder’s wife, Sabrina
Kvist, arrives on the pitch. She is wearing a Denmark shirt, carrying Eriksen’s name and number. She is distraught. Schmeichel had already tried to spot Eriksen’s family in the stands. He comes to her side, Kjaer takes her in his arms. Schmeichel’s father Peter later revealed: ‘He went over to say that Christian is breathing… she actually believed he had passed away.’
Treatment and uncertainty continues. Eventually, around 12 minutes after Eriksen’s fall, Finland’s players make their way down the tunnel. As Taylor and his officials follow behind, a roar goes up around Parken.
Eriksen has been lifted on to the stretcher. He is wheeled from the field, escorted by a wall of sheets, team-mates and medics. Through a gap in the bodies, German photographer Friedemann Vogel snaps Eriksen sitting up, eyes open.
The picture quickly spreads across social media — and around the stands in Parken. Rumours begin to circulate.
Before being taken to Rigshospitalet, a three-minute drive away, Eriksen speaks to team doctor Boesen.
Seven hundred miles east, Romelu Lukaku, Eriksen’s team- mate at Inter Milan, wipes away tears as he is supposed to be preparing for Belgium’s clash that evening with Russia in St Petersburg.
England’s players — several of whom had played with Eriksen — are en route to London for their opener against Croatia. One of Gareth Southgate’s squad is watching on their iPad when shock filters down the coach.
Fabrice Muamba, whose heart stopped beating for more than an hour after a cardiac arrest in 2012, writes on Twitter: ‘Please God.’ 6pm: 16 minutes after Inside Parken, attention turns briefly back to football. After the match was s uspended, UEFA inform the teams they can either finish that evening. Or at midday the following day.
Finland agree to let Denmark decide but both teams are clear: they won’t play unless they know Eriksen is stable.
Denmark’s squad discuss the trauma. It is OK to say ‘no’ if you don’t want to play, they are told. Some didn’t, some were ready. Hjulmand feels everyone is being pressured by UEFA.
Soon, reports claim Eriksen has dialled-in from hospital and encourages his team-mates to play. The news that he is awake and stable at hospital filters through to the other dressing room and the crowd.
That sliver of hope prompts a wave of emotion. The Finnish fans, near where Eriksen had collapsed, begin to chant: ‘Christian.’ Their Danish counterparts respond: ‘Eriksen.’
At 7.30pm local time, the Danish FA confirm Eriksen is awake. Soon his agent reveals he is talking with his father.
7.32pm: The match resumes after 108-minute delay
Finland’s players applaud the Danish team back on to the pitch.
Finland win their maiden tournament match thanks to Joel Pohjanpalo’s goal and Hojbjerg’s late penalty miss.There is little cause for celebration.
On Sunday, Eriksen spoke to his team-mates. He asked after them and joked that maybe they were in a worse state than him.
A glint of light at the end of a long, dark few days in Danish football.