​​​​​​Debutants Finland started their first European Championship campaign with a victory against Scandinavian rivals Denmark, in a game that will be remembered for the collapse of Christian Eriksen.

The game was suspended five minutes before half-time after the former Tottenham Hotspur player collapsed to the ground and subsequently received emergency treatment on the pitch. 

According to the organisers of the competition UEFA, the 29-year-old's condition has been "stabilised".

The players then commendably opted to restart the game and despite the shock of the incident, played out the rest of the game entertainingly and professionally.

Story of the match

The Danes came out of the blocks flying in Copenhagen and came close to taking the lead early on, 22-year-old Jonas Wind lashing a low shot which was turned wide by Finnish goalkeeper Lukáš Hrádecký.

The hosts continued to threaten their opponents, who were making their Euros debut, and Tottenham star Pierre-Emile Højbjerg was the next to go close with Hrádecký once again called into action.

After this Finland started to grow into the game, appearing to lack nerves on their first appearance in the finals of a major tournament, with the Huuhkajat starting to grow in impetus.

The game took a distressing turn, however, just before half-time when midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed to the ground, referee Anthony Taylor acted quickly to call for medical attention and the fast actions of everyone involved may have saved a life. The 29-year-old's condition has been "stabilised", and the footballing world breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The game was later resumed at the request of the players, who must be commended for their bravery. As expected, the last few minutes of the first half were cagey from both sides and the two nations headed to a shortened half-time break with the scores level.

After the shortened break, the match got back underway with the atmosphere from the supporters understandably startled, with everyone still recovering from the distressing scenes just an hour earlier.

But incredibly, the players very quickly got back into the swing of things and the visiting Finland took the lead just before the hour mark, Joel Pohjanpalo's header beating Kasper Schmeichel in the Danish goal, the celebrations understandably cordial.

Denmark then started to push for an equaliser and were offered a glorious opportunity when they were awarded a penalty when Paulus Arajuuri brought down Yussuf Poulsen in the box, the subsequent spot-kick from Pierre-Emile Højbjerg was saved, however.

After this, the game would peter out, a remarkable result for Finland on their debut but the biggest outcome from the game was undoubtedly the news that Christian Eriksen was recovering after the near-catastrophic incident, in which one of the sport's most popular and recognisable figures nearly left us.

Takeaways from the game

Dream debut for Finland

For Finland, you could have not picked a more exceptional game to make your debut in a major tournament.

While the game will always be remembered for the shocking collapse of Christian Eriksen, the visiting Finland deserve a significant amount of credit for their performance, particularly in the second half in the most exceptional of circumstances.

The Huuhkajat will next travel to St Petersburg to face their neighbours Russia, a win their would seal their qualification for the knockout stages which would be a remarkable feat for one of the tournament's big underdogs.

Man of the match

The Paramedics

Some things are just far more important than football and the quick and attentive actions of the Paramedics present at the Parken Stadium were absolutely vital.

The medics were well-prepared for the exceptional circumstance and the biggest result of the night was the news that Eriksen was recovering, an outcome that the footballing world could only dream of when the Inter Milan star collapsed to the ground.

So while all the players did tremendously well to resume the action after the news that Eriksen had recovered, the paramedics that got us to that situation are the heroes that deserve our recognition on a night where the everyone can breathe a huge sigh of relief.

There should also be a special mention to referee Anthony Taylor for his quick and decisive actions, Denmark captain Simon Kjær for his bravery and astounding leadership, as well as everyone else who did their part in a moment that brought the footballing world together.