Christian Eriksen has marked a beautiful comeback by scoring at the Euros – just over three years since his cardiac arrest at Euro 2021.
The midfielder scored after 17 minutes to put Denmark 1-0 up against Slovenia and celebrated with the broadest smile before a knee slide and being hugged by doting team-mates.
Football stood still on June 12, 2021, when Eriksen required CPR on the pitch in a match against Finland after collapsing due to cardiac arrest.
Eriksen sat the rest of the tournament out as Denmark made the semi-finals and there were severe concerns that he would never again play at the top level.
But the 32-year-old has showed extraordinary resilience to return to the elite level, making his Premier League return with Brentford and Manchester United.
Christian Eriksen has scored on his first Euros appearance since collapsing due to cardiac arrest at Euro 2024
He was surrounded by team-mates after what one fan called the ‘moment of the tournament’
Football stood still when Eriksen collapsed at Euro 2020 due to a cardiac arrest against Finland
‘That’s the moment of the tournament right there, Christian Eriksen almost died in his last game at the Euros and now he’s just scored – a beautiful moment,’ wrote one user on X.
‘Watched Christian Eriksen almost die on the pitch last Euro. Now he just scored this Euro. Football can be wonderful at times,’ said another.
‘Whoever is in charge of Christian Eriksen’s storyline is going absolutely BANANAS in the writers’ room,’ another commented.
Gary Neville told ITV Sport: ‘It was a golden moment for him. His first game in a Euros after what happened three years ago.
‘It was an amazing goal, clever, intelligent, all you would expect from him, and a great finish. The best moment in the first half comes from one of the real great players.’
Watching Eriksen receive 13 minutes of treatment on the field as his team-mates sobbed at Euro 2020 is one of football’s most harrowing memories.
Then 29, the star collapsed near the end of the first half in front of his nation’s fans at the Parken Stadion in Copenhagen.
He received a shock from an automated external defibrillator (AED) after collapsing in the first half of the game before he was taken to hospital in a stable condition.
He was given CPR by medics who ran on to the pitch at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen
Eriksen’s team-mates shielded him for privacy during the distressing scenes against Finland
Eriksen’s partner Sabrina Kvist rushed out on to the Copenhagen pitch to be beside him
The AED works by sending electrical shocks to the heart to make it start pumping again – effectively rebooting it when it fails Without this shock, Eriksen wouldn’t have stabilised. His life had forever changed in that moment.
Supporters from both sets of fans chanted Eriksen’s name as players waited anxiously in the changing rooms after the match was stopped.
Remarkably, the match kicked off just hours later and Finland went on to win 1-0.
Eriksen’s former cardiologist told Mail Sport at the time that Eriksen, then an Inter Milan star, had no history of heart problems.
Despite Eriksen’s incredible recovery, his selection in Denmark’s Euro 2020 squad was not without controversy.
Former Real Madrid midfielder Thomas Gravesen was chief among the dissenting voices at manager Kasper Hjulmand’s decision to call him up.
‘(Hjulmand) chose to take a player who has sat on the bench at Manchester United, Christian Eriksen, just to maintain relations,’ Gravesen told Tipsbladet.
‘The Christian Eriksen we all know, he is no longer there. Christian Eriksen doesn’t play football anymore. Christian Eriksen sits on the bench and watches football.’
Eriksen has paid little attention to any such criticism and got his reward.
Speaking about the treatment that saved his life, he said in 2022: ‘I think it gave me… let’s say the appreciation of being alive and being with my family. And I think everything else is just moved to the side.
‘To have the possibility to go back and be who I was before was really the aim.
‘My first aim was always to be a boyfriend and a dad. It’s still very special to be at the World Cup. The national team is something I’m just very happy to be part of again.’
