The highest governing body in European football UEFA has invited Denmark’s Christian Eriksen to attend the final of this year’s European Championship at the Wembley Stadium in London.
Eriksen will be joined by the paramedics who helped save his life in Denmark’s first Euro 2020 match against Finland.
The Danish midfield talisman suddenly collapsed on the pitch in the midst of a passage of play and lay unconscious. A team of several medics, shielded by Denmark players to protect Eriksen’s privacy in front of a global TV audience, managed to resuscitate him back to life following a cardiac arrest. Eriksen was immediately rushed to the nearby hospital in Copenhagen where his condition improved gradually.
UEFA have now said that Eriksen, his wife, and six paramedics have been invited to the final but confirmation is pending from their end.
Peder Ersgaard, a paramedic who helped save Eriksen recently said that he was honoured to receive a VIP invite from the UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin.
“I’m excited, like a child on Christmas Eve,” he told the Fagbladet FOA magazine.
“I’m very proud of my efforts, but also of the whole team. It wasn’t a one-man effort.”
Eriksen is currently recovering at his home and has been supporting the Denmark team who have qualified for the semi-finals. It wasn’t possible to get in touch with his agent.
The Denmark players made a remarkable comeback following the tragic scenes that they witnessed from up close in the first game. They might have lost the second match as well against Belgium, but since then, they have hardly put a foot wrong.
Denmark’s outstanding spirit and gusto has been the highlight of this year’s Euro 2020 and they are the favourite team of every neutral fan as well. “I hope to see Denmark against Italy. That would be really, really big. Just imagine if they become European champions,” Ersgaard added.
But before possibly facing Italy in the final, Denmark need to beat England in front of their own fans at the Wembley Stadium in the second semi-final. Italy take on Spain in the first semi-final.
Italian defender Leonardo Spinazzola injured the Achilles tendon in his left leg in his side’s 2-1 win over Belgium. He had to be taken off the field in a stretcher and was in tears.
However, Spinazzola recently posted a photo of himself smiling on Instagram and added that his surgery went well.
“Surgery done perfectly. I thank everyone for showing me such support, there have really been so many of you,” Spinazzola wrote. “The countdown has begun we’ll see each other soon.”
