Finland snatch Euro make an impression on Denmark after Eriksen collapse drama
Finland beat Denmark 1-0 within their opening match of Euro 2020 which was overshadowed by Christian Eriksen collapsing and needing to be revived on the field by medics.
Joel Pohjanpalo scored the only goal on the hour mark of a Group B match which was stopped for nearly two hours after Danish playmaker Eriksen slumped to the turf towards the finish of the first half.
There have been fears for his life as he was given CPR by medics on the pitch as his teammates, some distraught, formed a circle around him.
The stadium had fallen right into a shocked silence as the medics worked but Eriksen was eventually carried off the field at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen and a picture showed him apparently holding his head as he laid on the stretcher.
The Danish Football Union (DBU) said the Inter Milan player was awake and have been able to talk with teammates.
"We've been in touch with him, and the players have spoken to Christian," DBU director Peter Moeller told Danmarks Radio (DR).
"That's the great news. He's doing fine, plus they are playing the overall game for him,"
The match, which had kicked off at 1800 local time (1600 GMT), resumed two-and-a-half hours later in front of a separate crowd at the Parken Stadium.
Chants of "Christian" and "Eriksen" from both sets of supporters rang around the stadium as news of his status began to filter through to supporters.
Both teams played out an uneventful final short while of the first half after both sets of players returned to the pitch with several Danish players in tears.
After a brief break of 5 minutes the next half of the match continued with an identical pattern as before Eriksen's collapse, with Denmark pressing Finland back but failing woefully to find a way at night opposition defence and Finnish 'keeper Lukas Hradecky.
Pohjanpalo stunned the crowd into silence with when he headed home Jere Uronen's cross, capitalising on Finland's one true potential for the game.
Shorn of the imagination of their shining light Eriksen, the Danes struggled even more to break down the tightly-organised Finns and looked as if they would need the right fortune to get something from the match.
They thought that they had first got it when Yussuf Poulsen was brought down in the region by Paulus Arajuuri in the 73rd minute, but Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's weak spot-kick was easily saved by Hradecky.
The Danes piled on the pressure but aside from a few skirmishes in the box failed to cause their opponents much trouble and had to handle defeat which will likely seem to be unimportant given what happened earlier at night.
