Soccer-Fairytale for Denmark as a route of Russia puts them in the last 16
When Denmark players celebrated their victory over Russia, which sent them through to the last 16 of the European Championship, it was an outpouring of emotion like no other. After witnessing team-mate Christian Eriksen suffer a cardiac arrest in the same stadium just nine days ago, Denmark's players and supporters came together on an unforgettable evening in Copenhagen.
With two defeats from their first two games, qualification for the knockout stage had seemed as unlikely as the fairy tales Denmark is famous for."It's a Denmark win for Christian. You can see and hear what it means in Copenhagen," said Guy Mowbray at full-time."It truly is another terrific tale written in the land of Hans Christian Andersen. From tragedy and despair to utter, utter joy. They don't write them like that often."
After huddling around a phone to receive confirmation of Belgium's victory over Finland, which sent the Danes through as runners-up, the players ran over to supporters to celebrate."The circle was because I think it's crazy to run around and cheer without a result in the Finland game," said boss Kasper Hjulmand."We hoped it would be a magic night. I want to say thank you to all the people who have been supporting us and who have shown so much love. I could feel it really affected the players, so thank you so much for the support; it means the world.
"The motivation, the team spirit, the friendship among the players was amazing. If someone deserves this, it's our players. I can't imagine how they managed to come back from what they went through."There had been ripples of roars late on in the game as news filtered through of Belgium's lead, while goals from Andreas Christensen and Joakim Maehle capped off a rampant ending to the game. Yussuf Poulsen found himself drenched in beer after scoring Denmark's second, and there was delirium when youngster Mikkel Damsgaard scored in the first half.
"That is an emotional squad there. They have been through an emotional rollercoaster, and it is great to see them go through," ex-England defender Rio Ferdinand said on One. Former Lioness Alex Scott added: "This is special. The emotion they must be feeling all around that stadium. To play the way they did in front of those fans and qualify is just magical."
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