PIERS Morgan led tributes to footballer Christian Eriksen tonight after he collapsed during Denmark’s Euro 2020 opener with Finland.
But he had particularly fulsome praise for his captain, Simon Kjaer, who gave him CPR on the pitch – before leading his team.
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He wrote: “Danish footballer Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch today in the European Championships and for a few horrifying minutes it seemed his life was in danger.
“Thankfully he is now stable in hospital & seems to be OK. One reason for that may be this man…
“Denmark’s captain @simonkjaer.official ensured Eriksen didn’t swallow his tongue when he was unconscious, gave him CPR, told the squad to form a protective shield around him, consoled Eriksen’s horrified wife & has now led his team back into the game.”
He concluded: “You, sir, are a hero. 👏👏.”
Stars including Holly Willoughby also sent their best wishes after the former Spurs midfielder was stretchered off.
Piers tweeted earlier to tell fans it looked like the former Spurs midfielder would be OK after being was stretchered off.
He wrote: “Christian Eriksen appears to be alive & conscious in this new photo from @GettyImages – very encouraging development after the desperate earlier scenes. Hope & pray he’s OK.🙏.”
Holly posted an emoji of the Danish flag alongside the “🙏” praying hands emoji.
Gary Lineker also posted as it was revealed the star has been transferred to hospital writing: “Thank heavens. Some hope. Thoughts are with him and his family.”
Responding to criticism that cameras lingered too long on the nightmarish scenes, he wrote: “I understand some of you would have been upset with some of the images shown (we were too).
“Obviously these were the host pictures and out of our control. They should have stayed on a wide of the stadium. Apologies.”
The shocking scenes happened towards the end of the first half of the teams’ opening match.
A UEFA Euro 2020 spokesman has tweeted that Eriksen was rushed to hospital and “has been stabilised”.
Shocked fans among the 16,000 crowd at Copenhagen’s Parken Stadium looked on in horror as medics tended to the ex-Spurs star.
English referee Anthony Francis signalled immediately for medical staff to come onto the pitch after Eriksen collapsed.
His distraught teammates formed a circle around the Inter Milan ace, with some in tears.
The midfielder’s wife, Sabrina Kvist, was being consoled by Danish players after she rushed down to the pitch.
The match against Finland was restarted at 7.30pm after Eriksen asked Denmark’s team to play on.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
