Denmark’s Kasper Hjulmand: ‘It’s been an emotional year. A horror film but also a fairytale’

Kasper Hjulmand is in reflective mood. The past year has been like no other, the Denmark coach having had to deal with enough emotional drama to last a lifetime. On 12 June 2021, his captain, Christian Eriksen, collapsed on the pitch against Finland, his heart stopping, before being resuscitated and taken to hospital.

Denmark lost that Euro 2020 group game and no one was thinking about football but somehow they rose from the trauma to reach the semi-finals, where they lost narrowly to England. Last summer had it all: a life-changing moment, fear, euphoria and a nation coming together. As we talk on Teams, Hjulmand speaks eloquently about what he calls a “moment of truth”.

What impact have the events at Parken had on you?

You find your real identity, what matters in life. You discover why you do things and the true values ​​of football: friendship, support, tolerance, hard work and compassion. Everything that children learn when they play football actually. Football sometimes gets too far removed from that basic identity. Here we were very close to finding that again. It really was a moment of truth.

But also of total fear?

Of course. It’s the worst you can experience. Losing people you love … And we did, because Christian was really gone for a while. You look at how the staff react, how the players react. This isn’t a team-building drill in the woods with two experts pushing you. This was real. You see your wife, children and parents in the stands. But we couldn’t get to them because of corona. It was something you learn from. We talk about that a lot.

What have you learned?

A cliche perhaps: but living in the now. Do what feels right now. Don’t spend too much time on the past and the future. That is an incredibly