Kasper Schmeichel’s brilliant gesture to Christian Eriksen ahead of Denmark return

Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was the first to approach Denmark manager Kasper Hjulmand over giving the captaincy to Christian Eriksen on his return to the Parken Stadium.

It has been confirmed that the midfielder will start and wear the captain’s armband for his first return to the Danish national stadium since Euro 2020. Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest in the match against Finland just nine months ago.

He has since made a recovery and, after being fitted with an internal defibrillator, has returned to playing with Premier League side Brentford. Eriksen made a goalscoring return to the Danish national side at the weekend, scoring within minutes of coming on as a second half substitute in a 4-2 loss to the Netherlands.

He is now set to make an emotional return to the Parken Stadium as Denmark take on Serbia on the same pitch in which he collapsed. Eriksen will wear the captain’s armband for the match with Hjulmand revealing that it was Schmeichel’s suggestion in his pre-match press conference.

"Christian will be captain tomorrow,” he said. “And to that I can also say that before I started thinking about it, it was Kasper Schmeichel who came to me.”

“Simon, Kasper and Christian are three different people, but with fantastic leadership qualities,” he added. “And one of the things that characterises good leadership is that you are generous and want the best for each other.”

Schmeichel has been stand-in captain for his nation when Simon Kjaer has been unavailable. The City captain wore the armband for Saturday’s clash but will pass it onto Eriksen for Tuesday’s game.