Phil SumblerWales secured a great point in their opening Euro 2020 campaign against Switzerland thanks to a Kieffer Moore header late on in the game but it was a day which ended with football not really mattering due to the sad events in Copenhagen.
The collapse of Christian Eriksen was, simply put, one of the most distressing things I have ever watched on a football field. To see one of the most gifted players of the tournament simply collapse and need CPR in the middle of a game took away any elation that I felt from what was a good Welsh performance and put the whole tournament into perspective.
As one of the pundits remarked as the coverage was taken off air, this is just a game and everyone should be grateful for those around them. Or, more simply, life is too short to worry about a game of football.
Thankfully the news on Eriksen was quick and positive and he was stabilised and supposedly talking in hospital, news that I think was confirmed the moment the two sides in Copenhagen said that they wanted to carry on with the game. Finland won 1-0 but that didn’t seem to matter.
It does mean that we can now, the following day, look back a little bit more on the game in Baku that saw Wales and Switzerland share the spoils although it would be fair to say that Wales were second best for large periods and certainly grateful to Gavin Ward for his heroics in goal having come in for Wayne Hennessy – one of the decisions made by Robert Page ahead of the game.
If that was vindicated, his decision to start Moore was equally so when the Cardiff City striker equalised for Wales with a little over ten minutes left although it did take a VAR review to ensure the score stayed that way. The offside decision being one of the easiest ones that the VAR crew will face during the whole 51 game tournament.
Wales now look forward to Wednesday night and Turkey knowing that a win could (should?) well be good enough to secure progress to the next stage of the tournament and that can create a double celebration on the back of the Eriksen news. After all, football is the most important least important thing.
Get well soon Christian. Football will always be with you.
