'Absolute hero': Captain's 'incredible' act after teammate collapses

Quick-thinking Denmark captain Simon Kjaer has been hailed as a hero by football fans around the world after his incredible response to the terrifying incident involving teammate, Christian Eriksen.

The football world was left shocked and devastated after Eriksen collapsed and had to be revived on the field by medics during Denmark's opening Euro 2020 match with Finland in Copenhagen.

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The opening match of Group B was halted for more than 90 minutes after the scary incident with Eriksen, that left viewers onlookers in a state of distress.

However, Danish captain Kjaer has been praised for his leadership in the face of such traumatic adversity, and for the actions that could have saved his teammates life.

Kjaer rushed to Eriksen's aid and turned him on his side, making sure his neck wasn't compromised and his airways were clear, before administering CPR as the players waited for medical staff to get onto the ground.

He was also seen consoling Eriksen's grief-stricken partner Sabrina Kvist Jensen, who came down to the pitch in tears due to the distressing events that had unfolded.

Kjaer also instructed his players to join together in forming a shield around Eriksen to protect his privacy and make sure cameras weren't intruding as the medical team attended to him.

The football world was quick to commend the Danish captain for his incredible response to the horror incident.

Danish star awake and stable in hospital

Eriksen was eventually carried off the field at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen after having lengthy treatment and a photo 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 had been able to speak to teammates.

DBU director Peter Moeller told Danmarks Radio (DR): "We've been in contact with him, and the players have spoken to Christian. That's the great news. He's doing fine, and they are playing the game for him."

After Eriksen was carried off, a crisis meeting was held with both teams and match officials over whether to restart the game and the players resumed the game at 8:30pm local time, finishing the final minutes of the first half.

The match was poised at 0-0 at half-time.

The fans in the stadium, who were celebrating the chance to see their national team again live at the stadium, sat silently in their seats waiting for news of Eriksen's condition.

However soon after stadium-wide chants of "Christian" and "Eriksen" from both sets of supporters began to ring out as news of his status began to filter through to supporters.

They were brought to their feet when stadium announcers said that Eriksen was "stable", and the ground rose as one when to was announced that the teams would come out to finish the match.

A huddle among Finland's players were loudly applauded by all four sides of the stadium before both teams began their warm ups before restarting the match.

Denmark dominated the match before and after the traumatic incident, but Finland striker Joel Pohjanpalo headed home the winner on the hour with his side's only attempt of the game.

The hosts had 22 efforts but could not make them count, including a tame penalty from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg that was saved by Lukas Hradecky with 16 minutes remaining.

with agencies

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