Daniel Storey: Simon Kjaer - the football world salutes you
Denmark's team captain Simon Kjaer consoles Christain Eriksen's wife Sabrina Kvist on Saturday evening. Picture: Stuart Franklin/Pool via AP
The only good news is that it is not what we all immediately feared but could not bear to dwell upon.
As the images filtered through of Eriksen sitting up and we heard there had been contact between him and his teammates, relief washed over us all.
There were heroes who deserve to be recognised. The medical staff at the Parken Stadium are trained for incidents such as these, but responding impeccably in such grim circumstances still takes a presence of mind that goes beyond most of us. Referee Anthony Taylor is also prepared for every eventuality but recognised the importance to act quickly and decisively.
But it is Denmark captain Simon Kjaer who stands taller than us all. Kjaer rushed over to Eriksen, cleared his airway, placed him in the recovery position, and even began CPR before the medical staff arrived. He helped to organise his teammates in a protective wall — literal and figurative — around his teammate to avoid the intrusion of camera shots and spectators.
We discuss the merits of leadership in a football team an awful lot. We ask a great deal of our captains, posterboys for the hopes of a nation. But when the situation demanded it, Kjaer proved himself to be a brilliant leader and a giant of his nation. The football world salutes him.
The defining image of Romelu Lukaku’s majestic display against Russia on Saturday evening was not the finishes into the bottom left-hand corner with first his left foot and then his right, but the message delivered to a pitchside camera after his opening goal: “Chris, Chris…. I love you”.
It seems odd to even suggest this is a breakout tournament for Lukaku — he’s 28, was joint second top scorer at the last World Cup, and now has as many international goals as the original Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (in fewer caps than both).
And yet it has always felt like Lukaku has had something to prove to the doubters who ludicrously continue to knock him down despite all evidence to the contrary. Leading Belgium on in the absence of Kevin de Bruyne, Axel Witsel, and a fully fit Eden Hazard is proof that Lukaku is able to thrive when handed significant responsibility.
Survival rates improve dramatically when a defibrillator is used. If the use of a defibrillator is delayed for more than 10 minutes (or not available at all), the chances of survival drop to 5%.
They can be as high as 90% if one is used within a minute.
Eriksen was both incredibly unlucky and very fortunate on Saturday. That he is still with us and was able to converse with his teammates is a source of great joy. But it is also a lesson to the game on the necessity for defibrillators at grassroots level where such incidents can occur without the availability of on-hand medical expertise.
With all the money swashing around elite-level football, this should be a message to those in positions of power to provide funds for those lower down the ladder that defibrillators should be necessary at every park pitch. Let that be the legacy of an awful day.
When the official England national team Twitter account published England’s starting XI for their opening match at Wembley, you didn’t need to look hard for the angry replies.
Judging anything by social media reaction is enough to give anyone a warped view of anything, but Gareth Southgate’s sense was called into question.
And yet the four big calls Southgate made — Kieran Trippier, Raheem Sterling, Kalvin Phillips, and Tyrone Mings — all worked bar perhaps Trippier’s rogue left-back role. The others accounted for the best defender on the pitch, the best player on the pitch, and the matchwinner.
It’s easy to understand why angst is the default position, reinforced by repeated heartache. But surely Southgate has done enough to earn a little patience. He watches these players in training, he will change his team as the tournament progresses, and his selections leave those outside of the starting side hungry to impress. These are reasons for cheer, not hasty, knee-jerk criticism.
Turkey entered the first game of the tournament as many people’s dark horses for the competition and left standing firmly in the shadows.
There was logic to sitting deep and stopping the new Italy from swapping positions, dipping into the channels and creating space, but there was a serious flaw: The Italians are better at attacking than Turkey are at defending.
This is the (literal) blueprint of Roberto Mancini’s side. Gone are the dark arts and defensive dourness of times past — although they still celebrated a late block as if it were the winner. Mancini has committed to making Italy play with an insouciance and attacking verve he believes is their only hope of exorcising the demons of 2018. On this evidence, it might just work. If Italy top Group A — which seems likely — they look set for a quarter-final against Belgium that in any other tournament would be a worthy semi-final or final. Three days in and this competition is bubbling along beautifully.
