Danish players in a tight circle, side by side, eye to eye, heart to heart. Crowds gathered around him at Copenhagen's Denmark Stadium, hugging him and joining the outer circle of affection, belonging and hope.
We've seen it before. Nine days ago, just a few feet away and on the same ground, actually. That too was a circle of hope; Praying for life after his teammate Christian Eriksson fell on the pitch and, in the words of the team's medical staff, "left us and then came back."
Except that it was a different kind of prayer. Born not out of the horror of losing someone without warning and mercy, but a prayer that the outcome of the second game between Belgium and Finland - which was to end at the same time as their own Group B clash - would not change. Denmark, coupled with a 4-1 win against Russia and Euro 2020's complicated tiebreakers on Monday, would have meant they had qualified for the Round of 16.
At the center of their circle was someone's smartphone, ticking the seconds off full-time whistling in St. Petersburg. You imagine Ericsson was there too. Not physically—he was discharged from a hospital and back home recovering from the night his heart suddenly stopped—but, without question, figuratively.
When referee Felix Brych blew his whistle, sealing Belgium's 2–0 victory over the Finns nearly 700 miles away, the Danish faithful celebrated as one, on the pitch and in the stands. Not a celebration of relief when the news broke that Ericsson was back with us, but a celebration that fate had rewarded them with something special: another chance to make history.
Denmark will take on Wales in Amsterdam on Saturday for a place in the quarter-finals. For a team that's been through what they've been through, both on and off the pitch with Ericsson (losing their first two games and still advancing, becoming the first team to do so in the process), It was like hitting the reset button.
Another shot, another chance. Like Ericsson.
The last two hours were very painful. Denmark went into the game and Russia needed a win, while it was expected that Finland would lose to Belgium. Twenty-year-old wunderkind Mikkel Damsgaard sent him on his way, the kind of long-range goal that Ericsson would have been proud of. The Dane added a second at the hour mark, but it would be of no use if Finland held on to a draw. Spirits soared, and then nosedived, when a Belgian goal was dismissed by the tightest of VAR offsides. Moments later, Russia won - and converted - a penalty. Russia was also not ready to give up.
But then, everything broke Denmark's way in the last 15 minutes. He scored twice, and so did Belgium. There will be no refund. this was it.
It's hard not to draw parallels to what happened in 1992, when another group of Danish players also got an unexpected second chance. Denmark had failed to qualify for that year's Euros; When the call came from UEFA, all the players were on leave. Civil war broke out in Yugoslavia, and the United Nations stepped in and ordered sanctions against the country. This meant that Yugoslavia's runners-up Denmark in qualifying was invited to participate.
An impossibly late goal against France saw him advance to the knockout rounds. A successful penalty shootout - with the current Danish keeper, Casper's father Peter Schmeichel, saving the great Marco van Basten's penalty - saw them meet the Netherlands in the semi-finals. And in the final, they defeated Germany 2–0 to be crowned European champions.
A lot of stars combine for that feat, and when you're a country the size of Denmark (with a population of 5.8 million, living in a land mass the size of Michigan's Upper Peninsula), you can expect two fairy tales. Don't do it in the space of 30 years. But dreaming is free. And already being part of a miracle, the Danes are putting no limits on what fate can offer.
After what they've done, they know about second chances and the importance of holding them with both hands and never letting go. Just like Ericsson did. like they are doing.