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Denmark players unhappy with UEFA over Eriksen incident

Stuart Franklin / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Denmark players revealed their dismay about being asked by UEFA to decide whether to continue playing shortly after teammate Christian Eriksen suffered cardiac arrest during Saturday's Euro 2020 match against Finland.

"We were put in a position I don't think we should have been put in," goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel said Monday, according to The Guardian's Marcus Christensen.

"It probably required that someone above us had said that it was not the time to make a decision and maybe should wait for the next day."

Eriksen collapsed moments before halftime and was taken to a hospital in Copenhagen after receiving CPR on the pitch. UEFA later announced that he was in stable condition.

With players gathered in the dressing room after the match was suspended, the European governing body gave both teams the choice of resuming the contest later Saturday evening or restarting the following day at noon local time.

The match eventually resumed Saturday evening, with UEFA saying the decision was "made by players of both teams."

"We had two options. None of the options were good. We took the least bad one," Danish forward Martin Braithwaite said. "There were a lot of players that weren't able to play the match. They were elsewhere (mentally).

"You could have wished for a third option in this situation."

Midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg said Denmark will play its final two group stage matches - against Belgium and Russia - in honor of Eriksen.

"We all play for Christian. That's for sure," he said.

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