European Championship 2020 Qualifier Group D: Denmark v Republic of Ireland (tonight, Telia Parken, 7.45pm Irish time)
REPUBLIC of Ireland defender Richard Keogh says the best medicine for losing last month’s Championship promotion play-off final is getting “back on the horse” – and the Derby County defender believes Christian Eriksen will feel the same.
Denmark’s playmaker suffered Champions League final heartbreak with Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid last week.
While there might be a degree of empathy between the two players, Keogh will be hoping Eriksen will be still suffering from the ill-effects of their 2-0 loss to Liverpool ahead of tonight’s Euro 2020 Qualifier in Copenhagen.
“Coming away here is a good thing to be honest, coming away and playing football again, because there’s no better feeling when you’re a footballer than to just carry on playing, especially for your country,” said Keogh, who was part of the Derby County side who lost out to Aston Villa in the promotion play-off decider.
“It’s two big games now [against Denmark and Gibraltar] and hopefully we can keep the momentum going from the two positive results we’ve had. And then I can go away and enjoy my break.”
Keogh, who is expected to win his 24th international cap tonight, added: “When you’ve got more thinking time, you can over-analyse and you think about it a lot more when you’re not playing. From my point of view, it’s always been good to get back on the horse, because when you’re out on the pitch you forget about everything. But, as I said, it hurt and it was emotional but I came off that pitch knowing the guys had given everything. I was proud of everyone.”
Nineteen months ago, Eriksen almost single-handedly knocked the Republic out of contention for a place at the 2018 World Cup finals with a devastating hat-trick in Dublin.
All eyes will be on the former Ajax star in the Danish capital tonight as the Irish midfield and defence try to limit his influence.
“When you’re a footballer, you want to play football, don’t you?” said Keogh, who didn’t feature in the two-legged play-off against the Danes.
“He’ll be thinking it’s good to get back out on the pitch and try to get over that game. His turnover is going to be a lot sooner than ours, so maybe that will play a part. Physically, mentally, he might not be 100 percent. But I think like any player, he will be looking forward to getting back out there and playing and trying to forget about that Champions League final.”
Keogh (33) is expected to partner Shane Duffy in the heart of the Irish defence tonight.
