Denmark soccer player Christian Eriksen suffered a scary incident over the weekend when he collapsed during a match against Finland at Euro 2020. The team doctor said that Eriksen suffered cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated. Eriksen recently sent a message to his fans via his agent, Martin Schoots and showed appreciation for everyone’s support.
“Thank you, I won’t give up,” Eriksen said per the Evening Standard. “I feel better now – but I want to understand what’s happened. I want to say thank you all for what you did for me.” Eriksen also had a message for his teammates who returned to the pitch 90 minutes after the incident to finish the match. He said through his coach Kasper Hjumland: “I think you are feeling worse than I am. I feel as if I’m about to go training now, boys.”
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Denmark team doctor, Morten Boesen, revealed how serious the situation was. “He was gone,” Boesen said … “And we did cardiac resuscitation. And it was cardiac arrest.” He then added, “How close were we? I don’t know. We got him back after one defib. That’s quite fast.”
The incident happened on Saturday, and the players had the choice to finish the match that evening or the next morning. The team ended up losing to Finland 1-0. “We were put in a position which I personally don’t think we should have been put in,” Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel told reporters on Monday per ESPN. “It probably required that someone above us had said that it was not the time to make a decision and maybe should wait for the next day.”
The UEFA released a statement on the game being resumed. “UEFA is sure it treated the matter with utmost respect for the sensitive situation and for the players,” a statement said. “It was decided to restart the match only after the two teams requested to finish the game on the same evening. The players’ need for 48 hours’ rest between matches eliminated other options.”
Eriksen, 29, has been with the Denmark national team since 2010. He was one of the top players in the world, being named Danish Football Player of the Year five times. Eriksen is also a member of Inter Milan and scored four games in 17 appearances during the 2019-20 season. He has scored four goals in 26 appearances this year.
