Kasper Schmeichel says Denmark will 'see if we can win' Euro 2020 for Christian Eriksen

Danish goalkeeper said visiting recovering midfielder in hospital had 'helped him a lot'

Denmark's Kasper Schmeichel during training at Elsinore on Monday. Reuters

Christian Eriksen of Denmark is stretchered off the pitch after receiving medical assistance during the Euro 2020 match against Finland in Copenhagen, Denmark. EPA

A mural with a portrait of Christian Eriksen reads 'Come on, Denmark' on the wall of the Football Village at Ofelia Beach in Copenhagen, Denmark on June 14, 2021, two days after Danish footballer Christian Eriksen collapsed during the Euro 2020 match against Finland. AFP

Denmark forward Martin Braithwaite and midfielder Pierre Hojbjerg appear before the press in the mixed zone at the team's base camp in Elsinore on June 14, 2021. The Danish squad trained without midfielder Christian Eriksen who collapsed during his country's opening Euro 2020 game against Finland, as the team doctor confirmed he had suffered a cardiac arrest. AFP

A mural dedicated to Danish national team player Christian Eriksen reads 'Christian 10 Eriksen' next to the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark, 14 June 2021. EPA

Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel said he had visited Christian Eriksen in hospital and that he was 'smiling and laughing'. AFP

A supporter of Scotland shows a message in support of Danish national soccer player Christian Eriksen before the Euro 2020 Group D match against Czech Republic in Glasgow, Britain, 14 June 2021. EPA

Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel in action during training. EPA

Denmark's Christian Eriksen remains in hospital after collapsing during the Euro 2020 match against Finland. People write get well messages on a wall at a fanzone in Copenhagan. Reuters

Fans write messages of support for Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen at a fanzone in Copenhagan. Reuters

Kasper Schmeichel has said Christian Eriksen is in good spirits after visiting him in hospital and that the Denmark squad are determined to honour their teammate in their remaining Euro 2020 matches.

Schmeichel was one of the first on the scene to attend his stricken teammate, who collapsed in the 42nd-minute of Saturday's Group B match against Finland in Copenhagen.

Eriksen, 29, suffered cardiac arrest was treated by medical staff for around 15 minutes on the pitch, with Denmark team doctor Morten Boesen later admitting the player had "gone" and had to be resuscitated before being transferred to a nearby hospital.

“We’re still in the tournament. Now, we have to try to see if we can win this and do it for Christian and do it for all the fans who sat with us and were just as powerless in the situation as we were,” Schmeichel told broadcaster DR.

Denmark’s final two Group B games are against Belgium on Thursday and Russia next Monday.

“I have no doubt that this team has the unity, the strength to be able to come together and go out and do something special.”

Schmeichel, who could be seen consoling Eriksen's distraught partner alongside captain Simon Kjaer on the halfway line, said he had visited Inter Milan midfielder Eriksen in hospital and that it was "damn nice to see him smile and laugh" as he continues his recovery.

"It was a great experience and something that has helped me a lot.”

Danish players expressed dissatisfaction on Monday at the position they were put in after Eriksen's collapse.

Players on both sides were visibly distressed with the Danes even forming a protective guard around Eriksen as he received treatment.

Governing body Uefa offered the players the choice of resuming the match on Saturday night or beginning again on Sunday at 12pm time.

However, in a new development, Schmeichel's father, Peter, part of the Denmark squad that pulled off a shock triumph at Euro '92, claimed on Britain's This Morning show that if the Danes did not pick one of the first two options then they would forfeit the match 3-0.

While the younger Schmeichel made no mention of that claim, it was clear the players felt they were left with little option but to play out the remaining 50 minutes at Parken Stadium.

“We were put in a position I don’t think we should have been put in,” Kasper Schmeichel said. “It probably required that someone above us had said that it was not the time to make a decision and maybe should wait for the next day.”

European football’s governing body wrote on Twitter on Saturday that the match would be restarted “following the request made by players of both teams”.

Players who have suffered cardiac-related illness

Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand said on Sunday that he did not think that the players should have been back on the pitch, while Jonas Baer-Hoffman, general secretary of international players' union FIFPRO, said the decision should not have been made in the immediate aftermath of the incident.

"It would have been better to cancel the game in that evening. Take a bit of time, take a breath, look at it with a bit more distance, look at what are the options to carry on with the game or not, and if the game can't be replayed then I think also that would not be very important in comparison to what happened there to Christian," Baer-Hoffman told Reuters.

"The players were probably not given a real option in terms of taking a good decision that was in that moment in balance with where they were mentally," he added.

"There's a lot of lessons that need to be drawn from this," he said, adding that they would be conducting a review with Uefa.

Denmark striker Martin Braithwaite said on Monday: “We had two options. None of the options were good. We took the least bad one. There were a lot of players that weren’t able to play the match. They were elsewhere [mentally]. You could have wished for a third option in this situation.”