Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch during Denmark’s international friendly match against Ukraine, with the game subsequently abandoned after the midfielder was rushed to hospital
The Denmark national team doctor has confirmed Christian Eriksen ‘is doing well’ after he collapsed again during a friendly against Ukraine. Play was suspended after Eriksen appeared to grasp his chest and drop to the turf in the 64th minute of the match in Odense.
Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest during a Denmark fixture at Euro 2020 five years ago, and his teammates were left in tears as medical personnel attended to him. The midfielder briefly lost consciousness but managed to walk off the pitch unaided following treatment.
He was subsequently taken to hospital for further examinations, while the match, which Denmark was leading 2-1 through first-half strikes from Patrick Dorgu and Joakim Maelhe, was later called off.
However, in an update, Morten Boesen, the Denmark national team doctor said: “Christian walked off the field on his own. As I see it, the pacemaker is working as it should.
“He was briefly unconscious but regained consciousness very quickly, and we were quickly in contact with him. He will now undergo further tests at the hospital to determine what caused the incident.
“We are in close contact with him and the doctors at the hospital.
“But Christian is doing well, and he asked me to send his regards to all the players and tell them that he was okay”, reports the Mirror.
A statement from the Danish FA had earlier confirmed: “Christian Eriksen is conscious and doing well under the circumstances. The match has been called off.”
Denmark chief Brian Riemer added: “The most important thing is that Christian is doing well. And he has. He has left the pitch and has sent a greeting to the players. But that’s why the experience is still scary.”
While former Arsenal forward Nicklas Bendtner fought back tears as he covered the distressing incident as a pundit for Danish TV channel TV2. He said: “These are horrible pictures, and it completely overshadows the rest of the evening.
“My thoughts are with the family and the children, and it’s a difficult situation to be in right now. This is the second time it has happened, and as Christian’s friend also… it’s really terrible.”
Eriksen’s health episode comes five years after he suffered a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020 during a group stage match against Finland. On that occasion, his heart stopped for roughly five minutes, and he was given life-saving CPR treatment on the pitch.