Christian Eriksen made a beeline for Australia boss Graham Arnold to congratulate him on his team's unlikely World Cup success.
Australia defeated Denmark 1-0 on Wednesday to reach the last 16 of the tournament and send Eriksen's team home. The result was a big shock, as the Danes were tipped by many critics to go far in Qatar after reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2020 just 17 months ago.
Denmark are also 10th in FIFA's world rankings, 28 places higher than Australia. Despite this, the Aussies were victorious at the Al Janoub Stadium thanks to Mathew Leckie's second-half goal. They will face Argentina and Lionel Messi in the next round.
As reported by the Daily Mail's Mike Keegan, Eriksen was spotted congratulating Arnold after the game. It was a classy move by Eriksen, as many players would've struggled to do that after such a huge defeat. Yet Eriksen isn't an ordinary player.
The fact that he even played at the World Cup is remarkable after he suffered a cardiac arrest during Denmark's Euro 2020 game against Finland in June 2021. There were huge concerns that he would survive the incident, let alone play football again.
Eriksen was fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) - a device that can reset the heart after a cardiac arrest - but was not allowed to continue his Inter Milan career due to Serie A not permitting those with an ICD fitted to play.
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Eriksen was released from his contract by Inter in December 2021 and joined Brentford on a short-team deal. He made his return to Premier League football in February - a moment that sent shockwaves throughout football and put the game into perspective.
Brentford were unable to keep hold of Eriksen when Manchester United came calling in the summer and the Dane is playing at the top of his game once again. He's become one Erik ten Hag's most trusted stars and will be hoping to lift silverware this season.
Yet Eriksen won't be winning the World Cup in Qatar. Australia's slim hopes, meanwhile, are still alive thanks to their heroics against Denmark and Tunisia, winning the latter game 1-0. They finished second in Group D behind France - but only on goal difference.
Arnold appears to be Australia's lucky charm. The experienced coach was Guus Hiddink's assistant when they last reached the knockout stages of the World Cup in 2006, where they suffered an agonising 1-0 defeat to eventual winners Italy in Germany.
"There was a short turnaround but their effort was incredible," said Arnold. "These boys come in with a great mindset. We've been working on this for the last four years about the belief, the energy and the focus. I could see in their eyes, they were ready tonight."
Leckie added: "I'm proud, exhausted, everything. Hard to describe the emotions right now. We always believed as a group we could do it... We'll make the most of it tonight but then it's all about recovery because we've got another [game] coming up."
