Eriksen suffered cardiac arrest, is OK now

Copenhagen, June 13

Denmark’s team doctor confirmed today that Christian Eriksen had suffered a cardiac arrest when he collapsed during his side’s Euro 2020 match against Finland on Saturday night.

“He was gone; we did cardiac resuscitation, it was a cardiac arrest. We got him back after one defib (defibrillation),” Morten Boesen said, adding Eriksen remained in hospital for further tests after his collapse. “The exams that have been done so far look fine,” Boesen added. “We don’t have an explanation to why it happened.”

Eriksen, 29, collapsed suddenly in the 42nd minute of the match while running near the left touchline after a Denmark throw-in. As a hush fell over the 16,000-strong crowd, his teammates gathered around him while he was treated on the pitch and then carried off on a stretcher. The Danish players had been in contact with Eriksen via videoconferencing, said Peter Moller, director of Danish football association (DBU).

Doesn’t remember much

Coach Kasper Hjulmand said Eriksen had told him he did not remember much from Saturday’s collapse. “He would like for us to play on,” Hjulmand said. “He said he feels like he could go out and play again.”

Eriksen told Hjulmand: “I think you are feeling worse than I am. I feel as if I’m about to go training now, boys.”

“Christian is in good spirits and it’s a huge relief for the players after all this uncertainty,” Hjulmand said.

The Group B game was halted and eventually restarted an hour and 45 minutes later. Finland went on to win 1-0. “Looking back, I honestly don’t think that we should have been back on the pitch,” Hjulmand said. “I have thought about whether I could have done things differently.”

Meanwhile, Giuseppe Marotta, the director of Eriksen’s club Inter Milan, dismissed suggestions that Eriksen had previously contracted Covid-19. “He didn’t have Covid and wasn’t vaccinated either,” he said.

The Italian club’s doctor said Eriksen had shown no previous signs of a health issue. — Agencies

Too much play?

Christian Eriksen was playing in his 66th competitive game in exactly one year since football restarted after a shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic. His collapse came hours after the football players’ union, FIFPRO, repeated long-standing fears about pressure on its members in a congested season. “We are well aware of the intensity of the demands being placed on you, both physically and mentally,” FIFPRO said in a statement published six hours before the match started.

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