Denmark lost a match, but the whole World could have lost more in Copenhagen.

The headline from the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet said it all: “Denmark lost. But life won.” This was supposed to be about Finland’s first-ever match in a major competition and against fellow Nordic rivals Denmark who were coming in on good form and in front of their own fans at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen.

The mood quickly turned somber in the 43rd minute as Denmark’s and Inter Milan’s Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch and in serious trouble in front of the world. Simon Kjaer and referee Anthony Taylor signaled for help right away. The Danish players quickly formed a shield around their stricken teammate to protect him. CPR was performed to resuscitate him. As he was stretchered off, Eriksen appeared awake and was taken to the hospital where as of last report was in stable condition at Rigshospitalet which is 1.2km away from Parken.

The match was suspended at the point and the players were given the option of either resuming later that day, or resume on Sunday at noon Copenhagen. After hearing that Eriksen’s condition was stable, the players decided to resume play.

“The players could not imagine not being able to sleep tonight and to have to go on a bus tomorrow and play again. It was easier to go out and it was best to get it over with,” said Danish coach Kasper Hjulmand.

“It’s been a tough night. We are all reminded of what the most important thing in life is – to have valuable relationships, people we’re close to, our family and our friends.”

While fans in the stadium awaited news on Eriksen, Finnish and Danish fans alike started a chant with Finnish fans chanting “Christian” and Danish fans responding “Eriksen”.

Parken hyllar Christian Eriksen. Finska fansen ropar ”Christian”, danska svarar ”Eriksen”. pic.twitter.com/mOFLq3gAqg

— Michael Wagner (@MicGWagner) June 12, 2021

After the match resumed, Joel Pohjanpalo’s header in the 59th minute put Finland ahead and Lukas Hradecky kept them there by stopping a penalty from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

Finland’s Twitter account put everything into perspective after the final whistle:

Translation: Finland takes a historic victory in its first value match. In moments like these, however, football is a secondary issue: health always comes first. #DENFIN #Huuhkajat https://t.co/I20yrSyFPf

— Prost Soccer (@ProstSoccer) June 12, 2021

“It was a very emotional night for us,” said Finland coach Markku Kanerva. “First time in a major tournament and an opening game against Denmark in their home stadium. When we heard the national anthems, it was very emotional for us.”

“And then what happened with Christian Eriksen – a very dramatic and sad incident. And then finally, we get a good result from the game.

“Of course I am happy for that. Unbelievable. We are going to remember this for a long time for different reasons.”

THOUGHTS:  We have seen videos either on TV or on YouTube of players collapsing on the field of play whether it was Loyola Marymount’s Hank Gathers in 1990, Miklos Feher of Benfica in 2004, or Fabrice Muamba of Bolton in 2012. Gathers and Feher would sadly succumb to their cardiac arrests while Muamba would fully recover.

It never prepares you for when you see it in real time as millions did. There is no real manual to deal with a situation like this whatever duty anyone had at the time, suddenly became difficult. It was difficult to even see images of the Danish players surrounding Eriksen or of Simon Kjaer consoling Eriksen’s partner. Unfortunately, it is more likely than not we would be subject to disturbing images in what ends up becoming a breaking news story.

From a personal standpoint, it was hard to manage the Prost Amerika Twitter feed as it likely was for Steve Clare for our sister site Prost International, yet in duty we had to.

The decision to resume the game has been debated all day and I would honestly ask anyone what options would they offer? If indeed this was the players’ decision to resume later in the day, then their decision should be respected even though one does not agree with it–and many of ESPN’s pundits and commentators didn’t in the US.

Those are honestly debates for a later time as is whether a condensed schedule–made more condensed by the pandemic–was harmful to players’ health. These debates will happen,

On the other hand, the Danish players, the emergency staff at Parken, referee Anthony Taylor, and the fans of both teams should be commended for their actions on the day. Taylor was quick to stop play and save medical staff onto the pitch to tend to Eriksen and suspended play when it was apparent that this medical emergency would take a while to sort out. The EMT staff saved the life of Eriksen with the aid of CPR and defibrillators. The Danish players, most notable Kjaer, stood by their player in his time of distress. The fans, while emotional, remained calm and chanted Eriksen’s name and applauded the teams when they returned to the pitch.

That represented the best in humanity which is something we have seen far too little of in recent times.

In the end, Finland won a soccer match. Denmark lost it. Yet, a life was saved and that was a win for life. In soccer, your team wins, loses, or draws a game. Try to remember what a real tragedy is. One almost happened at the Parken, but quick thinking from players, medical staff, and officials prevented that from happening and that’s the real victory of the day.