Horrific incident in 2009 gives insight into why Denmark players were so desperate for the game against Germany to stop

The Danish national team were understandably cautious when a thunderstorm hit during their Euro 2024 last-16 clash against Germany.

In the 36th minute of Saturday's game at the Signal Iduna in Dortmund, both sets of players were ordered to leave the pitch by referee Michael Oliver.

As well as heavy rain that drenched one corner of the stadium, several bolts of lightning flashed across the sky.

The game was temporarily suspended due to adverse weather – an outcome that must have come as a relief to players and staff in the Denmark camp.

Back in July, 2009, Danish footballer Jonathan Richter was struck by lightning as he played in a reserve match for FC Nordsjaelland, which resulted in cardiac arrest.

Kasper Hjulmand, who is Denmark's head coach at this summer's European Championship, was an assistant manager when Richter was hit by lightning in the game against Hvidovre.

Medics restarted his heart, but the player was placed in an induced coma and cooled to 34°C as part of the Danish standard cardiac arrest procedure.

In late August 2009 – six weeks after the lightning strike – Richter and his medical advisors decided to amputate Richter's lower left leg because the damage was so severe.

This is said to have dramatically improved Richter's general well-being, according to medical sources.

In case people wonder why Danish players reacted to the thunderstorm. A lot of them know Jonathan Richter who was hit by lightning during a match in 2009. Danish NT coach Kasper Hjulmand was his coach at FC Nordsjælland. Jonathan lost part of his leg. https://t.co/gdQv1GgapQ

— Klaus Egelund (@klausegelund) June 29, 2024

Denmark assistant coach, Morten Wieghorst, was the head coach at FCN at the time. Head of delegation for Denmark, Christian Nørkjær, was also at FCN. All present when the accident with Richter happened

— Christian Wolny (@ChristianWolny) June 29, 2024

As mentioned earlier, Hjulmand was present when Richter was hit by lightning.

Speaking to The Players' Tribune in 2022 about the incident, he said: "At Nordsjælland, Morten Wieghorst, Christian Nørkjær and I had seen one of our players, Jonathan Richter, get struck by lightning on the pitch.

"He spent 10 days in a coma. We didn’t know whether he was going to live or die, and for the players it was hard to know how to react. Was it O.K. to celebrate a goal? Could we laugh? Could we cry?"

Richter was forced to retire from football at the age of 24, while FC Nordsjælland retired his number 26 jersey in tribute to the former midfielder, who now serves on the board at Danish side FC Græsrødderne.