Roberto Martinez admits Belgium players reduced to tears after watching Christian Eriksen collapse

Roberto Martinez has revealed Belgium stars cried after watching Christian Eriksen collapse on the pitch in Denmark’s Euro 2020 match against Finland.

The Inter Milan midfielder was given on-field CPR treatment and then rushed to hospital after suddenly falling to the ground near the end of the first half in the Group B fixture in Copenhagen.

The Danish FA and UEFA have since confirmed the 29-year-old is in a ‘stable condition’ following worrying scenes at the Parken Stadium.

The Danish FA also confirmed their star player ‘is awake’ and is awaiting further tests at hospital, as his agent Martin Schoots told a Danish radio station that he ‘breathes and can speak. He is out of danger.’

His sobbing teammates watched on and created a protective shield around him shortly after 6pm, and after an initial postponement the game restarted, with Finland emerging victorious.

The second half took place as Belgium opened up their Euro 2020 campaign with a 3-0 win against Russia in St Petersburg.

But Red Devils boss Martinez admitted members of his squad became emotional just hours before, and insisted no one wanted to speak about their corresponding Group B game at the Gazprom Arena in the pre-match team meeting. 

‘Real sadness, we were watching it live, and then in the next five minutes we were going to our team meeting,’ Martinez said regarding Eriksen collapsing on the field.

‘You can imagine the last thing we wanted to speak about was football. There was a real shock, a real sadness.

‘There were tears, we’ve got a lot of team-mates in our dressing room who have shared big moments with Christian, from Thomas Vermaelen to Toby Alderweireld to Jan Vertonghen and now currently Romelu Lukaku.

‘It was a real sense of shock and we can only send our prayers, and our thoughts to Christian.

‘Then we all got better news when we saw that he was recovering. Our wishes from our national team and everyone in Belgium is to Christian today, his family and the whole Danish team.’ 

Striker Lukaku dedicated the first of his two goals against Russia to his Inter Milan team-mate Eriksen, yelling down the camera  ‘Chris, Chris I love you’.

After the game, Lukaku told beIN Sports: ‘I’m really happy with the win but for me it was difficult to play because my mind was with my team-mate, Christian.

‘I hope he is healthy and I dedicate this performance to him. I cried a lot because I was scared, obviously. 

‘We lived strong moments together for a year and a half. I spent more time with him than with my family’, Lukaku added.

‘My thoughts are with him, his girlfriend, his two kids and his family.’

Vermaelen was Eriksen’s team-mate when the duo were at Ajax, while centre-backs Alderweireld and Vertonghen were part of the same Tottenham squad in the past. 

Thomas Meunier scored the other goal for Belgium as they began their Euro 2020 campaign in style.

The Red Devils face Eriksen’s Denmark next in the tournament, with the game taking place on Thursday in Copenhagen.