Normally, the UEFA European Championship is organized every four years – last year would’ve been the 16th edition to celebrate 60 years from the inaugural edition of the tournament. Unfortunately, the event was postponed for reasons we all know too well. Now, it seems the EURO is making up for the lost time not only with some of the most talented European football players but a dash of drama and a pinch of cuteness as well.
RC car stealing the show
Friday evening, all eyes were pointed at Stadio Olimpico in Rome, preparing for the kickoff of the (delayed) 2020 European Championship. The opening ceremony was impressive, to say the least, with world-renown tenor Andrea Bocelli sang “Nessun Dorma” on the turf, followed by the national anthems of the two teams – host Italy and Turkey – before proceeding to the kickoff.
But then, something stole the show: a radio-controlled car delivered the ball to the kickoff in a world-first. The car was, no doubt, a publicity stunt from EURO 2020 main sponsor Volkswagen but it didn’t matter – everyone all over the world found it perhaps the cutest thing ever to “step” on the stadium’s turf.
The rest of the match played out pretty much the way Betway soccer betting predictors expected: the Italian national team defeated Turkey 3-0, jumping immediately into the top spot of its group.
Player collapses mid-game
The other incident that made it to pretty much every headline around the world was something not even the most seasoned Betway predictor could foresee – Danish footballer Christian Eriksen collapsed in the team’s first Group B match against Nordic rivals Finland on Saturday.
29 minutes into the first half of the match, Eriksen received a throw-in from the side… then he simply collapsed right there on the turf. The Danish team’s medics quickly rushed to the collapsed player and performed CPR on him while his teammates formed a protective circle around him. Eriksen was treated for 15 minutes right there on the turf before he was carried off the field on a stretcher and rushed to the hospital. As you might expect, the game was suspended for the duration of the intervention, then both teams returned to their dressing rooms for a while.
Eriksen received treatment at the hospital – he has stabilized rather quickly, and he is feeling much better now. In the meantime, it has turned out that he suffered cardiac arrest during the match – the underlying condition that caused it is still under investigation.
The two teams ultimately decided to finish the match after the shocking incident – the Finnish team managed to win with one goal, currently standing in second place in its group.
