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Greg Evans
Jun 13, 2021
Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku has been praised after he paid tribute to Denmark’s Christian Eriksen and dedicated a win to the footballer after he collapsed during a Euro 2020 match on Saturday evening.
Eriksen received CPR on the pitch after he collapsed to the ground in the closing minutes of Denmark’s group stage game with Finland. The 29-year-old was quickly treated by the medical team and was placed in a stable condition before being moved to a hospital in Copenhagen where he was announced as awake.
Shortly after this Belgium started their Euro 2020 campaign as they kicked off against Russia in Saint Petersberg. The Belgians were comfortable 3-0 winners during the game with Lukaku scoring the first and third goals.
After netting the first, Lukaku ran over to the pitchside cameras and said “Chris, Chris...I love you!” a clear message of support for Eriksen. The two stars are teammates at Inter Milan.
"Chris, Chris... I love you!" ❤️ Romelu Lukaku gives #BEL an early lead over #RUS - before delivering a message of… https://t.co/keJRTABvih— ITV Football (@ITV Football) 1623525196
Speaking to the press afterwards, Lukaku explained that although he was happy with the win it was a difficult game to play and he was scared for Eriksen. He dedicated Belgium’s win to his club teammate.
"I cried a lot because I was scared." Romelu Lukaku dedicated Belgium's win to Inter Milan team-mate Christian Eriksen ❤️ #bbceuro2020— BBC Sport (@BBC Sport) 1623537600
This was after the Belgium team were booed by Russian supporters for taking the knee to continue some nations stance against racial inequality.
There was an immediate outpouring of respect and applause for Lukaku for his generous gesture to Eriksen as well as dealing with the jeers from the Russian supporters in a professional manner.
Two hours after hearing his club teammate collapsed and 10 minutes after he was booed for taking a knee, Romelu Luk… https://t.co/M4ZzBom5HP— Colin Millar (@Colin Millar) 1623525902
Class from Lukaku. “Chris, I love you" . #eriksen #inter— Henry Winter (@Henry Winter) 1623525285
Romelu Lukaku cried before the game because he was worried about his teammate Christian Eriksen. Took the knee be… https://t.co/WwmI7gvYr5— Siavoush Fallahi (@Siavoush Fallahi) 1623543046
Romelu Lukaku dedicated his two goals to Christian Eriksen. 👏🏻👏🏻💙 Big Rom 🔥💪🏻 Outstanding player. https://t.co/sTRYEzc6Wi— Jerry Mancini (@Jerry Mancini) 1623539578
I love Lukaku very much and I am relieved Eriksen is ok. https://t.co/c3r3nrXgsH— 🇬🇭 Carl Anka 🇬🇭 (@🇬🇭 Carl Anka 🇬🇭) 1623536285
Lukaku. Incredible human being 🇧🇪 https://t.co/Y6Ykln498Z— Men in Blazers (@Men in Blazers) 1623547132
Best tribute Lukaku gives to Erkisen.❤️👍🏻 #Eriksen https://t.co/afhRes6bvs— 𝐀𝐛𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐡 ½ (@𝐀𝐛𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐡 ½) 1623525893
Lukaku scoring after Russia fans booing Belgium taking the knee. YLTSI. Dedicated the goal to Eriksen too.— Rik Sharma (@Rik Sharma) 1623525148
Lukaku scores and immediately goes to the camera to tell Eriksen he loves him. Powerful 💙— Alex Goldberg (@Alex Goldberg) 1623525121
Eriksen’s fellow Inter teammate Achraf Hakimi also paid tribute to the Dane after he scored in Morocco’s 1-0 friendly win over Burkina Faso.
After Lukaku, Hakimi has also dedicated his goal to Eriksen. https://t.co/ITYIbQei5j— FedeNerazzurra (@FedeNerazzurra) 1623529732
Christian Eriksen’s Inter teammates, Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi, each dedicated their goals to Eriksen today 💙 https://t.co/HgrBEvrPql— International Champions Cup (@International Champions Cup) 1623530465
Meanwhile, Gary Lineker and his colleagues at the BBC were also praised for how they dealt with the situation with their compassionate words and thoughts. This came after the BBC was criticised for lingering on the treatment of Eriksen for too long. The cameras were out of control of the BBC, who apologised for not returning to the studio sooner.
In 25 years of doing this job, that was the most difficult, distressing and emotional broadcast I’ve ever been invo… https://t.co/xoK3Eeh3iJ— Gary Lineker 💙 (@Gary Lineker 💙) 1623527792
The host broadcasters will get flak for the live coverage going on as long as it did, and the focus on Mrs Eriksen… https://t.co/XVhcGqdPry— ALASTAIR CAMPBELL (@ALASTAIR CAMPBELL) 1623518125
Gotta say, @AlexScott, @MicahRichards, @cesc4official and @GaryLineker have done an incredible job in the studio. T… https://t.co/Pw4htvUDzY— Ash Sarkar (@Ash Sarkar) 1623523339
Credit to Gary Lineker, Alex Scott and the rest of the studio, that must have been incredibly hard to be on air and… https://t.co/GNxC2ZtOst— Sam Farley (@Sam Farley) 1623517294
@GaryLineker I thought you and the team dealt with an extremely harrowing situation very well— Toby Earle (@Toby Earle) 1623522052
Extraordinarily, after it was confirmed that Eriksen was in a stable condition the match resumed just over an hour later. Finland would go on to win 1-0.