He had just scored a goal and, after a celebration that was as liberating as it was energizing, with goosebumps and a moment that reconciled one with life and especially with the ball, Christian Eriksen received a hug from his teammates. It was more than a little. But for him the hubbub was already over because he has a ball in his head, because he sees football with a clairvoyance that the rest barely imagine. He moved his hands, pointed to areas of the mat and organized his people for what was to come because he always understood that the past does not define the future. A maxim that Slovenia clarified because they took the draw and, above all, that the Danish number 10 did well in Stuttgart, since their story in the Euro Cup had a happy ending.
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Jan Oblak, Zan Karnicnik, Jaka Bijol, Erik Janza, Vanja Drkusic, Timi Max Elsnik, Petar Stojanovic, Jan Mlakar, Adam Gnezda Cerin, Benjamin Sesko, Andraz Sporar, Benjamin Verbic (Petar Stojanovic, min. 66), Zan Celar (Jan Mlakar, min. 75), Jon Gorenc Stankovic (Timi Max Elsnik, min. 75), Jasmin Kurtic (Benjamin Sesko, min. 94) and David Brekalo (Andraz Sporar, min. 94)
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Kasper Schmeichel, Jannik Vestergaard, Joachim Andersen, Andreas Christensen, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Victor Kristiansen, Alexander Bah, Morten Hjulmand, Jonas Wind, Christian Eriksen, Rasmus Højlund, Joakim Mæhle (Victor Kristiansen, min. 77), Yussuf Poulsen (Rasmus Højlund, min. 82), Kasper Dolberg (Jonas Wind, min. 82), Christian Nørgaard (Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, min. 83) and Thomas Delaney (Morten Hjulmand, min. 88)
Goals
0-1 min. 16: Eriksen. 1-1 min. 76: Erik Janza
Referee Sandro Schärer
Morten Hjulmand (min. 48), Stojanovic (min. 53), Zan Celar (min. 83)
The last time Eriksen played in the competition – against Finland in 2021 – his heart stopped suddenly, a heart attack that took him to the ground and almost to the sky, a worrying diagnosis because he would hardly be able to put his boots back on. He wouldn’t do it in Italy, at Inter (where he played), because there you can’t play with a built-in defibrillator. But eight months later he did do it in England, first at Brentford and then at Manchester United. Also, of course, with Denmark because there is no one who has his talent, a player with a compass and bevel to filter passes, an undetectable footballer between the lines, a dealer who always bets everything on red, a springboard and even sometimes a full stop. Which happened against Slovenia, probably in a laboratory play. More than anything because the ball went over the sideline and Denmark ran to put it into play. Wind then moved towards the ball and gave it to Eriksen, who moved towards the opposite side. Control, shot and goal, football and Eriksen’s battle made glory, the Euro Cup circle closed.
But that couldn’t with Slovenia, a team that is reduced to two areas: in theirs because they have a mammoth goalkeeper like Oblak, always hand in hand with the defensive line and sometimes even in the center of the field because their defense is in a accused low block; and on the contrary, where the race appears by surprise, Sesko because the team expresses itself on the counterattack by definition. The decorations and the frills, even the possession of the ball, is not something that interests Slovenia, because they know what they are playing and with this plan they have reached the Euro Cup, now determined to achieve a first victory in the tournament (until the date adds three ties). With this presentation sheet, Denmark had no choice but to be the only protagonist with the round on its feet. And, although she lacks some footing and a certain ingenuity to peel off the motley defenses, she accepted it gladly. Nobody more than Eriksen.
Tock, tock, tock, tock, tock. At times, Danish football was reduced to the sound of the impact of the boot with the ball, precise and diligent passes that explained that football can be played in a thousand ways but that none is as beautiful or magnetic as when it is done collectively. . It was, of course, easier for him to take it from the roots, where there was no pressure to bother him, than in another’s field, where the passing lines were reduced. But when Hojbjerg and Hjulmand mixed with Eriksen, Denmark took color. Thus, after the goal of the 10th, there were opportunities, such as Vestergaard’s header from a corner or Hojlund’s point-blank shot, as well as a new shot by Eriksen with his left foot that went high.
Everything happened near Oblak. But that gave so much to Sesko, who invented out of nowhere a shot that put fear in Schmeichel’s body, a simplified counter to a control, a cutback and a shot from outside the area that whispered to the squad. He even brought out his magic again on another lost ball by hitting it from the outside to knock splinters off the post. His appearance encouraged the Slovenians in the second act, who began to arrive with more troops on the counters, which were also defined with corner kicks and even throw kicks, since any excuse was a good one to put a ball in the area. . And so came a header from Cerin and a peck from Sporar who missed the goal by a fluke. Then, also on a corner, Janza bounced it early and luck made the ball hit Hjulmand so that Schmeichel could make the statue, so that the ball would rest in the net. Quite a slap in the face for Denmark. But even though he tied the game, Eriksen or Great goal (a nickname that Pochettino gave him at Tottenham for his ability to surprise with his shot and goals), the footballer molded by Bergkamp in the Ajax youth team, endorsed by Cruyff and supported by Conte at Inter, took the victory because He showed that he has a soccer ball for a heart.
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