CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN has been waiting for this moment for three long years.
On June 12, 2021, the Denmark legend collapsed in the 43rd minute of their Euro 2020 Group B opener against Finland, suffering a sudden cardiac arrest.
GettyChristian Eriksen is ready to return to the Euros stage after heart scare in 2021[/caption]
GettyEriksen has made a stunning return to football with Manchester United[/caption]
National team doctor Morten Boesen would later admit that Eriksen “was gone” before performing life-saving resuscitation on the pitch that miraculously brought him back.
The Danes shocked the tournament by managing to recover and reach the semi-finals, losing out to England at Wembley in extra-time, but nothing compared to Eriksen’s incredible return to football eight months later.
Fitted with a defibrillator implant (ICD), Eriksen’s comeback trail included a brief stint with Brentford before joining Manchester United in July 2022.
And now, at the age of 32, Eriksen will grace the Euros once more, however improbable that seemed when his heart stopped beating on a dark day at Copenhagen’s Parken Stadium.
Ahead of Denmark’s Group C game with Slovenia in Stuttgart, the Red Devils midfielder said: “Anything more than one game this time around is an improvement.
“It’s been a goal of mine [to reach this Euros] since the beginning. It has been three years and a lot of things have happened.
“Honestly, I don’t think about it on a daily basis. I don’t overthink it. I just look forward to football and I think about the positives.”
“As a team we had great memories in 2021. It started very negatively but then things got more optimistic and we felt free. We just have to be relaxed and focus.”
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Eriksen is back to doing what he does best, and back to being the butt of the jokes around his teammates regarding his relationship with United pal Rasmus Hojlund.
Eriksen explained: “[Hojlund] calls me dad because every time I enter a room everyone asks: ‘Where is your son?’ It’s a joke he has continued.
“He has a great sense of humour, but he is one person on the pitch and another off it. He is a guy who does his job perfectly. I can’t say anything bad about him.”
Hojlund endured a mixed debut campaign in the Premier League with United last season, netting 16 times in all competitions, including 10 in 30 Prem outings.
However, the 21-year-old striker is currently in an international rut, scoring just once in his last eight games for Denmark.
Manager Kasper Hjulmand said: “It comes in phases. Sometimes you have this period where you score a lot of goals, but thankfully Rasmus always makes a big impression every game.
“He remains motivated and always makes a difference which is the most important thing. Goals will come and sometimes you have to fight for them.”
Those closest to the camp suggest this is Denmark’s strongest squad in years, with Eriksen and Hojlund joined by the likes of Kasper Schmeichel, Andreas Christensen, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Christian Norgaard.
Hjulmand added: “We have to remember to play relaxed. We don’t want to think too much about the consequences. We can’t just keep talking about it though. We have to show it.”