Christian Eriksen has shown the world a smile, a thumbs up and a positive message less than 72 hours after his collapse on the pitch at Euro 2020.
The Denmark midfielder suffered a cardiac arrest on Saturday and had to be resuscitated by medics before being transferred to Copenhagen’s Rigshospitalet where he is still recovering.
However, in the first statement since his incident, the 29-year-old says he is now feeling “fine – under the circumstances” and is looking forward to cheering on his teammates in their next match.
“Hello everyone. Big thanks for your sweet and amazing greetings and messages from around the world. It means a lot to me and my family,” Eriksen wrote, in a message released by the Danish football association (DBU) alongside a photo of him with a thumbs up.
A message from @ChrisEriksen8.
— DBU – En Del Af Noget Større (@DBUfodbold) June 15, 2021
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“I’m fine – under the circumstances. I still have to go through some examinations at the hospital, but I feel okay.
“Now I will cheer on the boys on the Denmark team in the next matches. Play for all of Denmark. Best, Christian.”
Denmark’s team doctor Morten Boesen confirmed Eriksen was “gone” prior to being resuscitated after collapsing 40 minutes into the match against Finland.
“He was gone. We did cardiac resuscitation, it was a cardiac arrest,” Boesen said at a press conference arranged by the DBU on Sunday afternoon.
“How close were we to losing him? I don’t know, but we got him back after one defib, so that’s quite fast.
“We don’t have any explanation why it happened. The details about what happened I am not quite sure of because I am not a cardiologist, I will leave that to the experts. I didn’t see it live, only on screens afterwards.”
The team doctor revealed that Denmark’s players and staff were visited by a psychologist on Saturday night, and in hindsight he feels the game should not have resumed. Finland claimed a 1-0 win thanks to Joel Pohjanpalo’s 59th-minute goal.
Denmark manager Kasper Hjulmand agreed that the match should not have been completed after the incident, and that the squad will try to use what happened as motivation for their next game against Belgium on Thursday.
“No we should not have played,” said Hjulmand. “We will try tomorrow to establish normality as much as possible. Players have different reactions to shocks and trauma but we will try to get back to normal as much as possible.
“I get the feelings from the players that maybe the time is too short to try to play football again, but maybe we can use it as a force to get together and try to go out and do our best in the next match.
“We will see if we can get ourselves together and play for Christian.”
Uefa has come in for criticism over its decision to allow Denmark’s player to restart the match against Finland.
Danish football legends Peter Schmeichel and Michael Laudrup were most vocal in their condemnation.
“They were given a choice that is not a choice. Play on tonight or play tomorrow at 12. I do not think that is a choice,” Laudrup, who won 104 caps for his nation, said.
“You make a decision so close to such a big emotional event, and that’s what I think is wrong. Uefa should have just said ‘of course we will not play tonight’, and then we would probably have to find some other solutions.”
Uefa defends handling of Eriksen incident
Uefa has defended the decision to resume the Denmark vs Finland match, and said in a statement: “Uefa is sure it treated the matter with utmost respect for the sensitive situation and for the players.
“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.”
Schmeichel, whose son Kasper was playing in goal for Denmark, has contradicted Uefa’s version of events and accused the governing body of lacking “compassion”.
“I want to put on record that it is absolutely ridiculous that Uefa came up with a solution like that,” Schmeichel told BBC 5 Live.
“Something terrible happens and Uefa gives the players an option to go out and play the game the last 55 minutes or whatever it was or come back at 12 o’clock today, I mean what kind of option is that?
“So you go back to your hotel – in the case for the Danes is 45 minutes away – you cannot sleep, you might not even sleep because watching trauma like that has a massive effect on you of course and then get back on the team bus at 8 to play the rest of the game.
“It was not an option, it was a ridiculous decision by Uefa and they should have tried to work out a different scenario and show a bit of compassion and they didn’t.”
BBC could face Ofcom probe
By Adam Sherwin, i arts and media correspondent
The BBC fcould face an Ofcom investigation after viewers expressed horror at the broadcaster’s failure to cut away from scenes of Eriksen receiving CPR.
The broadcaster apologised to fans for broadcasting distressing scenes of the footballer after he collapsed on the pitch during Denmark’s game against Finland.
The footage, filmed by Uefa and used by broadcasters internationally, included his tearful partner Sabrina Kvist Jensen running to the pitch as medics attended to the player, apparently struggling for his life.
Viewers complained that the BBC stayed with the close-up footage too long, with regular pundit Ian Wright calling on producers to “cut to the studio.”
Ofcom could investigate whether the coverage breached its broadcasting rules covering “distress and violation of human dignity.”
Read more here
More from i on Euro 2020
- Eriksen’s collapse has thrown a spotlight on football and its relentless thirst for more
- ‘Yorkshire Pirlo’ showing he has perfect blend of silk and steel to be a star
- Where Schick’s strike against Scotland ranks among greatest Euros goals
- Daniel Storey’s guide to all 24 teams – from hot favourites to no hopers
- How to watch every Euro 2020 match on TV and online in the UK
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