Son dedicates game-winning goal to Christian Eriksen

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Son dedicates game-winning goal to Christian Eriksen

Son Heung-min sends a message to former teammate Christian Eriksen after scoring a game-winning penalty against Lebanon in a World Cup qualifier on Sunday. [NEWS1]

Son Heung-min sends a message to former teammate Christian Eriksen after scoring a game-winning penalty against Lebanon in a World Cup qualifier on Sunday. [NEWS1]

 
Son Heung-min dedicated his game-winning goal in a World Cup qualifier against Lebanon on Sunday to former teammate Christian Eriksen, who collapsed and went into cardiac arrest while representing Denmark against Finland at the UEFA Euros 2020 on Saturday.
 
Son, who played with Eriksen for five seasons at Tottenham Hotspur, scored the game-winning penalty after a Lebanese handball in the box. Immediately after slotting the ball under the goalkeeper, Son ran to the nearest camera, holding up a two and a three to signal the No. 23 shirt Eriksen wore during his time at Spurs.
 
Son then grabbed the camera and mouthed "Christian Eriksen, I love you."
 
Christian Eriksen, who currently plays for Inter Milan, collapsed on the pitch minutes before half time in Denmark's Euro 2020 clash with Finland at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen on Saturday. He required CPR on the spot, while his teammates formed a protective circle around him to ensure privacy. Eriksen was later moved to hospital and the game restarted after a long delay.
 
The Danish team doctor on Sunday told reporters that Eriksen "was gone" before being resuscitated on the pitch.
 
"Well, what should I say? He was gone," Morten Boesen said in a press conference. "And we did cardiac resuscitation and it was cardiac arrest. How close were we? I don't know."
 
Eriksen is now stable in hospital. 
 
The harrowing incident shook the football world and led to tributes to Eriksen at games both inside and outside of the Euros. 
 
Son's tribute mirrored that of Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku, who plays with Eriksen at Inter Milan, who ran to a camera and shouted “Chris, Chris - I love you,” after scoring against Russia.
 
Harry Kane also tweeted a message to Eriksen on Saturday.
 
"It weighed on my mind pretty heavily," Son was quoted as saying on Yonhap. "To see it happen to a former teammate of mine, I was really concerned. I was really close with him [at Tottenham] and he was on my mind throughout today's match."
 
BY JIM BULLEY   [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]
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