Kasper Hjulmand expressed his gratitude towards Denmark supporters after their round of 16 triumph over Wales, saying their love for Christian Eriksen has "given us wings".
Denmark progressed to the European Championship quarter-finals by thrashing Wales 4-0 in Amsterdam on Saturday afternoon.
Hjulmand's side have coped admirably with the loss of Eriksen, who was hospitalised after collapsing in their opening group stage fixture against Finland, with the head coach left overwhelmed by the public's response to the incident.
What's been said?
“When Christian collapsed, everything changed for me. It was suddenly a totally different situation," Hjulmand said after the game. "We needed the love and the support and that gave us wings.
“It’s hard to believe that this is reality. I am really grateful for all the Danes who came here. It’s crazy. I am very, very grateful.
"I admire the boys. Everything wasn’t perfect during the game, but we improved. The guys are true warriors.”
How is Eriksen now?
Eriksen was rescutitated on the pitch before being taken to hospital, where he remained under observation for six days after being declared in a stable physical condition.
After it was confirmed that the Inter playmaker had suffered cardiac arrest on the pitch, he was fitted with an ICD heart-starting device, and is now continuing his recovery at home with his family.
Denmark overpower Wales
Wales started the brighter of the two sides at Johan Cruyff Arena, but Denmark soon began to exert full control over proceedings while being roared on by a fervent crowd made up mostly by fans from their country.
Kasper Dolberg eventually put the Danes 1-0 up with a stunning curling effort in the 27th minute, and scored again just after the interval following a mix-up in the Welsh defence.
Joakim Maehle added a third for Denmark before Martin Braithwaite rounded off the scoring in stoppage time, with Wales finishing the game with 10 men after Harry Wilson was shown a straight red card.
Hjulmand singled out two-goal hero Dolberg for praise after the final whistle, having seen the 23-year-old overcome a string of fitness issues to make a decisive impact on the biggest stage.
“We have a star striker in Kasper. I already watched him when he was a kid," he said. "He had some problematic phases with injuries and coronavirus, but he bounced back. He didn’t play a lot in the beginning. I saw during the training sessions that he is fit. I think it was meant to be to have this huge climax here.”
Asked if Denmark could now go all the way in the competition ahead of a quarter-final date with the Netherlands or the Czech Republic, Hjulmand responded: “There is no need to think so far away, but I can promise to fight.”
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