Denmark star Christian Eriksen has spoken out for the first time since suffering that gut-wrenching cardiac arrest during his nation’s Euro 2020 clash with Finland. The 29-year-old playmaker released a statement to Gazzetta dello Sport via his agent as he looked to address the entire footballing world, who were anxiously waiting for his first words after that nearly-tragic incident.
The Inter Milan player has remained in the thoughts and prayers of players, pundits, and fans from across the globe after collapsing right before half-time in Denmark’s opening European Championship tie. After falling over, it immediately became apparent that the former Tottenham ace was in need of emergency aid, with medics quickly rushing in to perform CPR for 13 minutes before stretchering him off the field.
Shortly after that scary moment, both UEFA and the Danish national team announced that the midfielder was stable and had been taken to hospital for recovery, but this did not end all the worry. Many remain concerned over his condition and whether the Serie A winner could ever return to the pitch after suffering cardiac arrest. However, the player looked to calm the fears, insisting that he is “better now” and that he “will not give up”.
“Thank you, I won’t give up. I feel better now – but I want to understand what’s happened,” the statement read.
“I want to say thank you all for what you did for me.”
“Now he just has to rest, with him are his wife and parents,” the agent added.
“He will remain under observation. But in any case he wants to cheer on his team-mates against Belgium.”
Despite the concerns for his career, this was undoubtedly a tremendous miracle snatched from the jaws of disaster. His team-mates, who had witnessed everything at close hand, were visibly distraught, with many players and fans breaking down in tears, fearing they had lost the father of two. Denmark’s team doctor Morten Boesen even admitted after the game that Erisken “was gone” before being resuscitated.
“He was gone,” Boesen stated.
“We did cardiac resuscitation, it was cardiac arrest. How close were we? I don’t know. We got him back after one defib so that’s quite fast. We don’t have an explanation why it happened.”
The Danish players returned to the pitch later that same day to complete the game, losing 1-0 to Finland. Denmark boss Kasper Hjulmand admitted during the post-match press conference that his side were not in the right state of mind to continue, but on a positive note, he has now revealed that Eriksen has reached out to the team via video, telling them: “‘I think you are feeling worse than I am”.
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