There he stood, the Danish star. In the corner of a Czech soccer stadium, Christian Eriksen stared blankly into the dark spring night, as if searching for a moment that had already slipped away.

In front of him he saw shattered dreams. He saw them in himself, and he saw them in the spectators who filled the corner of Letná Stadium in red and white, reflecting all the pain the Danish players were radiating. Faces buried in hands, eyes drained of spark, shoulders slumped, as if the national team shirt suddenly weighed a little more than before. They were all trapped in the same void.