Less than 18 months after suffering a cardiac arrest during a European Championships game, Christian Eriksen received a rousing reception upon his major tournament return.
The Denmark international received pitchside assistance after collapsing during a game against Finland at Parken in Copenhagen in June 2021. The midfielder, who joined Manchester United ahead of the 2022-23 season, revealed he “died for five minutes” before recovering and, eventually, returning to football.
Eriksen made his international return in March 2022, scoring with his first touch in a friendly against the Netherlands. He was named in the starting line-up as Kasper Hjulmand’s side began their World Cup campaign against Tunisia, and looked emotional as Denmark lined up for the national anthems.
“It's special, my only aim was to come back and be fit enough to play,” Eriksen said ahead of the tournament. “It's been a long journey, it's very special to be at a World Cup and I'm really happy to be part of it again.
“I think one of the first conversations I had with the doctor in Amsterdam, who participated in all the testing, was about it being my goal to play in the World Cup if everything went well. That was the dream at the time.”
Eriksen was fitted with a implantable cardioverter defibrillator device, or an ICD, before making his return to competitive football, and Italian regulations meant he was unable to play in Serie A for former club Inter Milan. He made his comeback during the 2021-22 season, playing a number of games with Brentford in the Premier League, before moving to Man Utd over the summer.
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Eriksen is the highest scoring player in Denmark’s World Cup squad, with 39 goals from 117 international appearances going into the World Cup. He didn’t feature in any of his country’s qualifying games as he prepared to make his return to the game, but impressed in the UEFA Nations League as the Danes finished second in their group ahead of world champions France.
Denmark will face France again in Qatar, with the teams facing off in Doha on November 26. France’s campaign kicks off against Australia, just as it did in 2018 when they drew 0-0 with Denmark in another group stage game.
“After what happened, we’re thankful he’s here,” captain Simon Kjaer said of his team-mate. “But I think Christian’s qualities say everything about him. As a footballer, he’s one of the best I’ve ever seen in terms of his quality, love for the game and just hanging around with the boys.
“He appreciates everything, probably more than we do. We love having him in our side, every minute he plays is only a big plus for Denmark.”
