Soccer Football – Euro 2020 – Group B – Denmark v Finland – Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark – June 12, 2021 Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand walks towards the Denmark players next to Christian Eriksen as he receives medical attention after collapsing during the match Pool via REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay
June 12, 2021
By Philip O’Connor
Copenhagen (Reuters) – Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed while playing and was given CPR by medics during his side’s Euro 2020 soccer match with Finland on Saturday, and the game has been suspended.
A Reuters photographer at the game saw Eriksen raise his hand as he was carried from the pitch on a stretcher, and the stadium announcer later told the crowd that he had been taken to the nearby Rigshospitalet.
The Danish DBU football association tweeted that the 29-year-old was “awake and at Rigshospitalet for further examinations”.
The news that Eriksen had been taken to hospital was greeted by the crowd chanting his name. A decision about whether or not to restart the game will be announced at 1945 CET.
Eriksen collapsed suddenly in the 42nd minute of the match while running near the left touchline after a Denmark throw-in. Teammates Martin Braithwaite and Thomas Delaney rushed to assist him, with Delaney beckoning furiously for medical assistance.
As a hush fell over the 16,000-strong crowd, Eriksen’s teammates formed a ring around him as medics pumped his chest just before halftime in their Group B clash.
Both teams subsequently left the field with officials holding up sheets to hide the stricken player from view, and the stadium announcer told fans that the game had been suspended due to a medical emergency and to stay in their seats.
The game was scoreless when Eriksen, who plays his club soccer for Inter Milan in Italy, collapsed.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Editing by Frances Kerry and Pravin Char)
