Denmark’s Kasper Hjulmand: ‘It’s been an emotional year. A horror film but also a fairytale’

17-Feb-2022 13:00:36 | Guardian

The coach looks back on events last summer, when his captain Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch, and how the team went on to unite the nation

Kasper Hjulmand is in reflective mood. The past year has been like no other, the Denmark coach having had to deal with enough emotional drama to last a lifetime. On 12 June 2021, his captain, Christian Eriksen, collapsed on the pitch against Finland, his heart stopping, before being resuscitated and taken to hospital.

Denmark lost that Euro 2020 group game and no one was thinking about football but somehow they rose from the trauma to reach the semi-finals, where they lost narrowly to England. Last summer had it all: a life-changing moment, fear, euphoria and a nation coming together. As we talk on Teams, Hjulmand speaks eloquently about what he calls a “moment of truth”.