With the bitter style of an extra-time defeat after the ultimate whistle at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday, hundreds of Danish followers have been seen crying and embracing one another with proud smiles on their faces… and justifiably so. With hopes of extending their UEFA Euro 2020 marketing campaign to the knockout phases after their opening 45 minutes within the match, Kasper Hjölmund’s workforce scripted an unforgettable soccer journey in a bit of over three weeks.
Driven by a resolve to raise the trophy for Christian Eriksson – who collapsed on the bottom throughout the workforce’s opener in opposition to Finland on 12 June and needed to be revived with a defibrillator throughout a tense halt in Copenhagen – Denmark reached the semi-finals of European 29 Championships after a protracted, exhausting wait of years.
Though the Reds and Whites ran off steam within the ongoing match throughout their 2-1 loss to England, their rise from the depths of tragedy touched the hearts of hundreds of thousands. After failing to qualify on the earlier version 5 years earlier, Denmark entered the match because the “Dark Horse”, with a cordial and bold head coach and a multi-faceted workforce of Lionhearts.
But issues didn’t go nicely for him from the start.
Soon after Ericsson suffered a cardiac arrest, the Danes suffered two consecutive defeats of their Group B matches – a 1–0 loss to Finland adopted by a 2–1 loss to eventual group-toppers Belgium. The defeat of 17 in June.
With the exit doorways getting greater, Denmark didn’t let their heads fall earlier than the day of the ultimate match. Leaving that life-and-death scenario behind, Hazulmand’s facet refused to throw within the towel in opposition to Russia and have become the primary workforce to qualify for the knockouts after shedding their first two matches on the European Championship. Home supporters in Copenhagen discovered new heroes to sing and chant at left midfielder Mikel Damsgaard and wingback Joachim Mahle on the night time of twenty-two June as Denmark registered a powerful 4–1 victory.
A view of a fan-made banner devoted to Christian Ericsson throughout UEFA Euro 2020 (Reuters)
After turning disappointment into pleasure, Denmark continued their momentum into the knockout phases as they beat Wales 4–0 within the last-16 because the headlines in the end turned to Ericsson’s destiny slightly than his soccer. OGC Nice striker Kasper Dolberg got here into the limelight by scoring two targets on both facet of the break throughout a go to to his former house floor in Amsterdam. The 23-year-old once more pulled off a powerful victory in a 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Czech Republic, changing into the nation’s joint high scorer within the competitors’s historical past.
The emotionally charged red-and-white practice made a promising begin via one other applause-worthy Damsgaard objective throughout their final 4 contest in opposition to England, however the cracks have been beginning to present. After an ominous objective by Simon Kjr earlier than half-time, Denmark suffered a drop in adrenaline ranges throughout the later phases, with the entrance three wanting toothless. After a controversial further time penalty by Harry Kane, it was throughout.
“We are disappointed, we are very disappointed,” Hujulmond mentioned after his workforce’s exit from UEFA Euro 2020. “But then there’s another part of me and I can’t describe with words how much I admire the technical staff behind these players.”
“They’ve gone via lots. We have two folks on employees who saved the lifetime of certainly one of our nice gamers. We’re combating like loopy. We play good soccer and I’m grateful to Denmark, the entire nation. Support was wanted, we wanted empathy when this occurred to Christian,” mentioned the 49-year-old coach.
When all of the mud of despair settled, Hujulmond set his thoughts on one factor – a brilliant and promising future pink White.
“Unfortunately we didn’t reach the final but one thing is certain, we are going to attack again and our future is full of hope and confidence,” he mentioned. “These persons are excellent and the entire nation will be pleased with and proceed to offer them the love and respect they deserve. They are a tremendous workforce who’ve performed a tremendous job.”
.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
