Lukas Hradecky, who was the Finnish number 1 as Finland’s goalkeeper, was horrified at Denmark’s ordeal in their Euro 2020 tie.
The debut game for Finland and Denmark in Euro 2020 group stage saw Inter midfielder Christian Eriksen collapse.
After fainting thus in the middle of the pitch, the Danish midfielder even stopped breathing on the pitch, needing resuscitation.
And the Finnish Number 1, Lukas Hradecky, has questioned how Euros’ governing body, UEFA, handled this incident.
Christian Eriksen’s collapse at Euro 2020 should force UEFA protocol change, according to Finland goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky.
The Incident
The opening Group B game of this summer’s European Championship on June 12 witnessed a major health scare on-pitch.
Denmark’s medical staff had to urgently resuscitate Cristian Eriksen after the midfielder stopped breathing and fell unconscious on the pitch.
Eriksen eventually regained consciousness and made a full recovery in hospital, and the football news surrounding the incident were harrowing.
Meanwhile, Denmark and Finland agreed to resume play hours after the incident, to many fans’ utter shock and concern.
But Hradecky, rightly, believes that UFEA should’ve given both sets of players more time to process such a harrowing event.
Hradecky recalls that they all saw that Denmark captain Simon Kjaer “was totally out of it” after the incident.
Tending to his fallen team-mate and his family, and then guiding the rest of the team, had left Kjaer empty.
Finland’s Goalkeeper Was Horrified at Denmark’s Ordeal in Their Euro 2020 Tie
Simon Kjaer gave Eriksen CPR before Denmark’s medical team intervened, and then consoled Eriksen’s wife and rallied his fellow Danes.
And Finland No 1 Lukas Hradecky has pointed out that Kjaer was visibly shaken by the whole ordeal. He, and his team-mates, should have never have had the choice of restarting the match immediately or a day later.
Hradecky expressed his belief that UEFA should have taken the decision to play out of the devastated Denmark team’s hands.
“Everyone saw, for example, that Simon Kjaer was totally out of it and still completely shocked,” Hradecky told Goal and SPOX. “There must be a clearly defined protocol on what to do in such incidents.
“That would be very helpful to everyone involved. It must not be the case that traumatised players have to think about what should happen. Football is about people, as this case has once again clearly shown. They are the most important. So, we need a clear rule that puts the human and not the commercial perspective in the foreground.”
The Bayer Leverkusen shot-stopper added on his reaction to Eriksen’s sudden collapse: “It was just terrible. The scene itself looked very strange. Despite my distance from what was happening, I quickly realised that it was something serious.
“Christian was completely gone. You are simply not prepared for it and don’t know what to do in such a situation.
“So I say hats off to Simon Kjaer and Kasper Schmeichel in particular, but also to all the other Danish players, for what they did in those moments.”
