Toby Alderweireld not looking forward to Denmark game

Belgium defender Toby Alderweireld has gone on record and said that he is not looking forward to their match against Denmark due to the unforeseen events that occurred with Christian Eriksen on Saturday.

Christian Eriksen suffered a heart attack a couple of minutes before half time in Denmark’s tournament opener against Finland. He received CPR prior to being taken to the hospital. According to recent reports, Christian Eriksen is fine right now.

“It’s not pleasant to have to play them now,” Alderweireld, a former team mate of Eriksen’s, said on Tuesday.

“But it won’t be fun for the Danes either,” Alderweireld added in a clip posted on social media by the Belgian football association.

“It can go in two ways: it can give them extra strength, or maybe not. But I think we have to look at ourselves and approach that game as professionally as possible. And also try to win it. That’s all we can do.”

Toby Alderweireld had played club football with the Danish playmaker at both Tottenham and Ajax. He was dejected when he heard the news, just like other Belgium players such as Romelu Lukaku and Jan Vertonghen who have also shared the field with Eriksen.

“I have known Christian for a long time. When I heard the news, I was no longer thinking about my own match. At that moment you are just seeking information about whether he is doing well,” he said.

“So not just me, but everyone was really happy and relieved when we got the news on the bus ride to our game that he was conscious and could even talk.”

“How they dealt with that situation was incredible,” he said. “A textbook example. They have my eternal respect for that. But we will try to win.”

“You just feel that they have a lot of qualities and have a clear idea of how they want to play,” he said.

“They will be a very difficult opponent and it is also an away game. Their crowd will be 100% behind them. We will have to be at our top form to score points there.”