Just days before the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Borussia Dortmund and Denmark midfielder Thomas Delaney phoned up DR P3 radio station to show support to a fan who had complications distinguishing between the Denmark and Mexico shirts in a friendly match.”My name is Thomas, I’m colour blind and this happens to me too,” Delaney said.”The other day on the pitch it was hard to see who was on my team and who was on the other team.”Having not revealed his identity by then, Delaney was asked which team he played for, to which he responded “The Danish national team”.Since then, Delaney has become an icon for 350 million colour blind people worldwide.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Thomas Delaney is an inspiration. Not only is he one of Denmark’s most important players, not only does he have undeniable work ethic (he covered 43.5 kilometers so far at Euro 2020), not only did he score the opening goal against the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals but he is openly advocating for all those who have a disability, no matter how severe it is.He wasted no time in dedicating the goal to Christian Eriksen, who has been out of action since collapsing in Denmark’s opening game of Euro 2020.”He’s been our best player for years,” Delaney said. “We play with him in our hearts, making him proud makes us all happy.”Like Eriksen, Delaney is an example of overcoming. Kathryn Albany-Ward, founder of Colour Blind Awareness, said to the BBC that “he’s the first active elite player to acknowledge this publicly.””Most don’t speak about it because they know it will affect their value.”Eriksen-inspired Denmark looking beyond achieved Wembley targetHis national team wear red and one of his former clubs – Werder Bremen – play in green uniforms. It surely is not easy for Delaney who has trouble differentiating those two colours the most.”It’s hard to describe,” Delaney said. “It’s like seeing two shades of the same colour.”We usually have different colour shorts, but they were both white that time [Denmark vs Mexico] so it was complicated. I had to look at faces, but I had to do it quickly so I didn’t lose the ball.”It can be difficult when moving quickly and players are further away.”‘Flawless’ Italy in buoyant mood heading into Euro 2020 semi against SpainDelaney admitting his issue made a huge difference. As a result of his statement, Denmark and Australia agreed to both wear away kits when they met so as to not cause him any complications. He even joked that he “would almost definitely not have noticed yellow”.Denmark are facing tournament favourites England on Wednesday evening in London as a part of EURO 2020 semi-finals. It all indicates we will be watching a tremendous match played at Wembley – confidence is through the roof on both sides.
