When Christian Eriksen collapsed in Denmark’s opening game of the European Championship three years ago, his unconscious body surrounded by his teammates as he received CPR, what then would have seemed a reasonable hope for the future? To survive? To lead a relatively normal life? To resume his career? Did anybody in those dreadful moments think he might play at Euro 2024? Even the most optimistic, surely, could not have foreseen a performance quite like this. But brilliant as Eriksen was, his display was not enough to deliver a win for Denmark.
Slovenia, at their first major tournament since 2010, were slightly overawed, as their coach, Matjaz Kek, acknowledged. For them, the final 30 minutes could hardly have been more different from the first 60 and, although there had been times when they had seemed to be hanging on, by the time it happened, Erik Janza’s equaliser felt vaguely inevitable.
