Russian and Finnish players show their solidarity for Christian Eriksen

Warming up for their Euro 2020 game on Wednesday, Finnish and Russian players wore “Get well Christian!” T-shirts as they showed their solidarity for Denmark’s Christian Eriksen.

Finland won their opening Group B game against Denmark on Saturday, but the match was overshadowed by Eriksen’s collapse during the first half in Copenhagen after the Dane suffered a cardiac arrest.

“It was not the kind of joyous moment that normally would have been,” Finland captain Tim Sparv told CNN Sport’s Patrick Snell ahead of Wednesday’s game, admitting that preparing to play against Russia had been difficult.

“It’s been so many different kinds of emotions at the same time. When you think about a player nearly dying, I think it puts things in perspective,” Sparv added.

A win against Russia would have ensured Finland’s qualification for the last 16 of Euro 2020, but it was the Russians that emerged victorious, winning 1-0 at the St. Petersburg Stadium, thanks to Aleksei Miranchuk’s first-half goal.

Finland forward Joel Pohjanpalo had grabbed the winner against Denmark and he thought he had also scored against Russia with a header early on, though his effort was swiftly disallowed after it was ruled fractionally offside by VAR.

Clear-cut chances were proving hard come by for the hosts and their luck worsened when Mario Fernandes jumped for a header and was unable to break his fall.

The Russian defender had to be stretchered off and taken to hospital and is thought to have sustained a thoracic spinal injury, according to the Russian national team’s Twitter feed.

After measuring a low cross, substitute Vyacheslav Karavaev was then denied an attempt at goal when Finnish defender Jere Uronen followed through with a monumental challenge — with both players colliding without injury.

In the second minute of first-half stoppage time the deadlock was broken by Miranchuk. With Finland’s defenders closing in, the Russian midfielder cleverly created space, before curling the ball into the net.

In the second half, Russia started to lose its rhythm as Finland pressed for an equalizer, notably through forward Teemu Pukki.

Ultimately Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov’s side protected the lead as it recorded its first win of Euro 2020.

Russia will play Denmark in its final group match on Monday, whilst Finland face Group B leaders Belgium.

Wales win

Elsewhere on Wednesday, Wales took a huge step towards the round of 16 after beating Turkey 2-0 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The win was inspired by Gareth Bale who produced two wonderful assists for Aaron Ramsey and Connor Roberts. Bale had the chance to score himself but put a second-half penalty high over the crossbar.

It means Wales cannot finish lower than third in the group and is likely to progress to the knockout stages. Meanwhile, Turkey, which has now lost both of its group games in the tournament, faces an uphill battle to qualify from Group A.