Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez has spoken about the sense of strangeness surrounding the Group B clash between Belgium and Denmark at the European Championships.
During the official pre-match press conference, as reported by FCInterNews, the Spaniard talked about the effect that Danish captain Christian Eriksen’s health emergency in Denmark’s opener against Finland had on the Belgian squad.
Eriksen had looked set to star for Denmark, and he and Inter teammate Romelu Lukaku were prepared to compete against one another in today’s game.
However, now it is uncertain whether or when the 29-year-old will return to a football pitch, and a complete impossibility that he’ll participate in the Euros any further.
The Belgium manager expressed hoped that Eriksen would return to football, and explained how his team planned to acknowledge their great respect for the player and send him support.
About the impact that Eriksen’s health emergency had on the Belgian squad he had this to say:
“What happened on Saturday was a powerful moment for the entire group. As Belgians we want to send a positive message to Eriksen: we want to see him back on a football pitch as soon as possible.”
“We want to celebrate him at the start of the match,” Martinez continued, “after which the 22 players will take to the pitch to play.”