EURO: Clinging to hope

Emotions were already high before Frederik Rönnow’s Denmark team came out to face Belgium in their second group game. Football again took a back seat for a moment as players and fans from both sides came together as one to support Christian Eriksen, who had to be resuscitated out on the pitch after suffering a cardiac arrest in the first group match last Saturday.

Once play began, Denmark got off to a dream start, taking the lead with their first attack. In the tenth minute, both teams stopped play to send a powerful message of support to Eriksen. The hosts in Copenhagen continued to dominate after that, but the Belgians took control of the game in the second half and turned it around to win 2-1. That makes it two defeats out of two for Denmark, leaving them bottom of Group B, but Rönnow and Co still have a chance to progress in their final group match against Russia on Monday 21 June.

Martin Hinteregger and Stefan Ilsanker were also on duty last night. Hinteregger was again in Austria’s starting line-up to take on the Netherlands, while Ilsanker had to watch the match in Amsterdam from the bench. The Dutch ran out 2-0 winners, which sends Austria down to third in Group C. A round of 16 berth awaits them, however, if they can get the right result in the final match against Ukraine on Monday.