Christian Eriksen is only 24 years of age but it feels like he’s carried the hopes of Danish football for the best part of a decade. The Tottenham Hotspur player has at times had a difficult relationship with the national team, former manager Morten Olsen publicly piled pressure on the young footballer, and that added to what the Danish media and the country’s fans were also expecting.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting a good player to play to the best of his ability but sometimes things went too far and it was easy to believe that Eriksen was being hampered by it rather than helped.
Things seem a little more chilled out now, but that’s not to say that the expectation has gone. Denmark face Poland away in a World Cup qualify on Saturday and Danish newspaper BT say the hopes of a big result rest ‘mainly on the shoulders of Christian Eriksen’.
Speaking to the newspaper, Eriksen sounded calm: “Previously, according to media, it had to be me who sent Denmark to the European and World Championships. And I do not feel under greater pressure now. Whether I’m 20, 22 or 24, I go out on the pitch to play as well as possible.
“But I’m fine with having that responsibility. One man fortunately can’t play alone, and we also have many other talented players. But I’m 24 years old and I’ve done a lot of things, so I do not mind taking responsibility, and it is probably also what it takes to compete with an opponent like Poland.”
Eriksen explained that if Denmark can manage to beat Poland away from home then it will show what they’re made of. Denmark have some great young players, with the most prominent of course being the Tottenham star.
