Eriksen going back to the future with Denmark

Twelve months ago he was playing in the FIFA World Cup finals for Denmark. One month ago he was helping AFC Ajax win the Dutch league title. But when Christian Eriksen blushed under the heat of the media spotlight on Friday, it was a timely reminder that, for all his prodigious advances, here was a 19-year-old on the eve of his debut for his national Under-21 side.

"It was my goal one and half years ago when I went to play in the Ajax first team – my first goal was to play here for Denmark," said Eriksen, looking forward to helping the host nation's cause in the UEFA European U21 Championship. Capped 14 times by the senior Danish team, he will take a detour from the fast lane when stepping out for the first time for Keld Bordinggaard's U21s in Saturday's opening Group A assignment against Switzerland.

"I am excited, it is going to be the first time so I hope it is going to be fun," said Eriksen. The word 'fun' suggests the fearlessness of youth, although the teenager is only too aware of the expectations building around him. "I am getting used to the pressure, but of course it is the first game of the tournament and everyone is looking but I want to play as well as everyone [expects]."

If Eriksen is excited to be here, his coach Bordinggaard can only echo that sentiment. Seated beside the slight youngster in Friday's press conference at the Aalborg Stadium, he related a conversation the pair had 18 months ago. "He said, 'Coach, you should know this is one of my goals to be part of your team in 2011.' He was a young boy with dreams but then he took off, he passed our team and has played very well for the A team and for Ajax. We are very pleased that he decided to be part of our team."

He must be relieved too, given that he had constructed a side in the hope Eriksen would be around to fill the playmaker's role. "One and a half years ago we realised that Christian's development was taking this direction and we decided to work on the concept that maybe we'd have a No10 like Christian at this championship. We've been working with players like Christian in that position but it was not until three or four weeks ago that I was convinced he would play."

It is a measure of Eriksen's progress that he began the 2009/10 season in Denmark's U19 side and ended it with a place in the squad for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, appearing for a combined 46 minutes as a substitute against the Netherlands and Japan. "Last year I was so young and so new in the game that I didn't really know what to think about the World Cup," said the youngster, of a campaign that also brought a breakthrough into the Ajax first team.

Eriksen, who left Odense BK for Ajax aged 16, has continued his development this term, making 28 Eredivisie outings and scoring six goals to help the Amsterdammers win the Eredivisie. He also had his first taste of UEFA Champions League football as he made three starts in the group stage before playing the full 90 minutes of Ajax's December win at AC Milan – a performance that had Switzerland coach Pierluigi Tami purring on Friday as he recalled the tyro's impact that night.

"He has real quality – I saw him in Milan with Ajax and he was the best player on the pitch," said Tami. "[Denmark] have that something extra with Christian Eriksen." Eriksen will seek to underline the point in the coming fortnight.