BEN DAVIES has revealed that Christian Eriksen is in ‘good spirits’ after being discharged from hospital following his cardiac arrest.
And the midfielder even warned Welshman Davies that his side are in for ‘a tough one’ against the Danes on Saturday.
Davies and Eriksen are close pals, having spent nearly six years together at Tottenham.
The Spurs left-back, who spent time as a child living in Denmark, said: “I spoke to him last night after the game and he said we’ll be in for a tough one.
“I’ve spoken to him a few times since. He seems to be in good spirits.
“I don’t know what happens with him from here on out but I think it’s best we just let him have his privacy, let him spend time with his family and the most important thing is he’s still alive.”
Davies, 28, also opened up about the ‘horrific’ moment he found out what had happened to Eriksen.
He added: “It was pretty horrific. He is a good friend and I just didn’t know what was happening.
“I was on the phone to quite a lot of our mutual friends. It was a bit of a worry and panicked stage at the time.
“It was the unknown. We didn’t know the situation. It was pretty tough and the boys were great, in fairness.
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“They found out anything they could as soon as possible and it kind of just made the football seem very irrelevant.
“To be honest the football side of it, once that happens – it’s completely irrelevant. The only thing that matters is he will be alive and be there for his family.”
Wales’ knockout tie against the Danes in the Netherlands will evoke more personal memories for Davies as he spent part of his childhood living in Denmark and played for Viborg’s academy.
The 63-cap star, who faced the Scandinavians in a 2-0 defeat in Aarhus in the 2018 Nations League, recalled: “I was there for two years when I was a kid. I loved it.
“My dad got a job out there so we all moved as a family. We had some great times there.
“The first time I played them it was quite special but now I’ve kind of had that sentimental one. I’m purely focused on the opponents.
Davies, one of eight survivors from Wales’ Euro 2016 semi-final success, is dreaming that the Dragons can produce another special run deep into the tournament.
He added: “Getting out of that group was a big challenge given the teams that were in there.
“A lot of people wrote us off at that stage and to finish second and show the resilience we did, it has not really sunk in how big an achievement that was.
“For us now, we have to start relishing it. This is where we enjoy it.
“We built that expectation — we expected ourselves to get out of the group, we built that pressure on ourselves to get out of the group first and now, for us, the pressure is off.
Now it is about seeing how far we can go — and we really believe we can go on and create something special
Ben Davies
“We have kind of surpassed that pressure stage of getting out of the group.
“Now it is about seeing how far we can go — and we really believe we can go on and create something special.
“Denmark are a top side and it will be a hard game. Their record speaks for itself over the last couple of years. They’ve got a lot of quality as well.
“They have quite a lot of boys playing in the Premier League and they’re a solid team.
“We know their qualities and we have to be ready for the challenge.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
