Belgium look to continue their fine start to Euro 2020 when they travel to the Parken Stadium to face Denmark

Roberto Martinez’s Belgium can book their place in the round-of-16 at Euro 2020 if they are able to claim victory against Denmark at the Parken Stadium on Thursday evening.

Belgium’s start to life in group B has been somewhat impressive, but not unexpected. They came into the tournament as one of the favourites to go all the way and that certainly hasn’t changed after they convincingly dispatched Russia 3-0 in St Petersburg.

Romelu Lukaku picked up where he left off at club level, as he bagged two goals to not only pick up the man of the match award, but put himself in contention for the golden boot. The 28-year-old’s form will be pivotal in the Red Devils campaign if they are to go one step further this time around and win their first major honour.

The result was made all the more eye-catching as they were without two of their star players Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard in the starting eleven.

In previous competitions, these two would be some of the first names on the team sheet and have been essential to their success, however Belgium still found a way to win which stands them in good stead for the rest of the summer.

For Denmark they find themselves in an extremely difficult situation after their opening fixture against Finland, due to the events surrounding Christian Eriksen on the day.

In the 41st minute, the Inter Milan midfielder collapsed to the turf without anybody near him, causing major concern about his wellbeing. Luckily, captain Simon Kjaer was first on hand to comfort his teammate before the medics rushed on the pitch to assist in giving CPR to Eriksen.

To everyone’s surprise the game was resumed just hours after the incident, but unfortunately Denmark were unable to go onto win the match for their teammate with Finland narrowly beating them 1-0.

It was later revealed that the 29-year-old had suffered a cardiac arrest, therefore Eriksen updated his fans on his instagram to confirm that his condition was improving.

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A post shared by Christian Eriksen (@chriseriksen8)

The traumatising scenes put everything into perspective for the sporting world, as no matter how important supporters think football and winning games is, nothing comes before health.

Regardless of the result, the Danish players should be proud of their actions as if it weren’t for some of Eriksen’s teammates and the medical staff, his wife could have been without a husband and his child without a father. Everything else which comes out of Euro 2020 is completely insignificant.

Kasper Hjulmand was full of praise for the way his team handle the difficult circumstances in his post-match press conference:

“It was a tough night,” Hjulmand said. “We are all reminded what the most important thing in life is and that is to have valuable relations. We have a group of players I can’t praise enough. I couldn’t be prouder of these people who take such good care of each other at such a time where one of my very, very dear friends is suffering.”

Undoubtedly, they will still be processing the events which unfolded last time out, but hopefully they can refocus their minds for when the number one ranked side travel to them on match-day two.

Apart from Eriksen, the Danes have no other concerns with injuries, although the challenge ahead of them appears to be much more of a mental battle than a physical one.

The visitors will most likely have midfield duo De Bruyne and Alex Witsel on the sidelines, as the Manchester City man suffered a facial fracture against Chelsea in the Champions League final, while the latter hasn’t featured in the last six months after tearing his achilles tendon.

Defender Timothy Castagne has been withdrawn from Martinez’s squad, after being substituted in the 27th minute against Russia with his injury appearing to be a double eye socket fracture, similar to that of teammate De Bruyne.

So can Belgium’s golden generation book their place in the first knockout round at Euro 2020 or can Denmark rally themselves to an unlikely result in front of their home supporters?

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