'Christian Eriksen's collapse during Euros impacted me most': Former Liverpool footballer Mark Seagraves

After almost a dull 2020, largely impacted by Covid-19, football was back in full throttle this year with very few matches being played behind closed doors. The year marked some of the biggest transfers in Europe, as football's greatest icons Cristiano Ronaldo returned to his boyhood club Manchester United and Lionel Messi parted ways with his. 

In another news, there were huge protests by fans and former footballers as elite clubs of Europe collage to form a new competition, the European Super League. 

However, when English football great Mark Seagraves was asked to pick his most defining moment from 2021, the former Liverpool and Manchester City player recalled the frightening scenes from Copenhagen in June. 

Calling the event as a ‘dark day’, Seagraves spoke about the Euro 2020 match between Denmark and Finland, when a completely fit Christian Eriksen collapsed midway during the match and as confirmed by the doctors later, the midfielder had suffered a cardiac arrest. 

“The one moment that impacted me the most was Christian Eriksen. It was a dark day, the fact we saw that at a top competition and to a supreme athlete. We were all looking at the visuals, it was so bad and shocking,” the footballer-turned-pundit told the Hindustan Times in an exclusive interaction. 

"That for me was a big thing in football, forget about who won the Euros, the Champions League," he added. 

Ronaldo reuniting & Messi departing

Seagraves also spoke about the epic transfers, which saw Ronaldo reuniting with his former club in England and Messi relocating to Paris from Barcelona. 

The former English footballer terms Ronaldo joining United as a big move but reminds there were other notable recruitments at the Old Trafford apart from the Portuguese. 

"It's not just him, they've signed a few others - Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane." 

He then pointed United's weak defense to be the factor, which “cost Ole Gunnar Solskjaer his job.” The former United player was sacked as manager of the club after a string of poor results, with a 4-1 thrashing by Watford being his final exhibition with the Red Devils. 

Speaking about Messi's move to Paris Saint-Germain and the Ligue 1 club's ambition to get their hands on the coveted UEFA Champions League trophy, Seagraves noted that the Ballon d'Or winner chose an easy option. 

"I think there were only two clubs he could have gone to. One was PSG and one was Manchester City, I think he chose the easy option to go to Ligue 1 rather than go and play in the Premier League," he said. 

On PSG's chances of finally lifting the UCL title, the former defender said: "I think with the likes of PSG, it seems about getting the big names possible to the club, which should theoretically win you the Champions League but we've seen on numerous occasions that's not the case." 

'Messi winning the Ballon d'Or was a scandal'

Seagraves  didn't mince any words while expressing his displeasure over the latest Ballon d'Or results, picking Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski as the obvious winner over Messi.  

“I think it's a scandal. It should never have been Messi, it should have been Lewandowski. We talk about he winning the Copa America with Argentina and that's the reason he got the award. But he has got the award on previous occasions when Argentina didn't win the Copa America, so is it about what trophies you win,” he wondered. 

“Lewandowski comes from Poland, he's not gonna win the Euros, he's not gonna win the World Cup, logistically all he can do is score the most number of goals and be prolific year in year out, which he has done,” the former defender added. 

Watch March of The Champions - Italy's Triumph: EURO 2020 Special on SONY TEN 2 channels from December 27 to 31, 2021 at 9:30 pm IST.

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