Denmark’s national player Christian Eriksen kept quiet for a long time after his cardiac arrest at the European Championship. Now he has given his first interview, is full of gratitude and dreams of participating in the World Cup in Qatar.
Eriksen has thanked the world for its sympathy in his first interview after his collapse at the European Championship last summer. “It was incredible that so many people felt the need to write to me or give me flowers. It touched so many people – and they wanted to show that to my family and me. That makes me happy,” Eriksen said in an interview with Danish TV station DR1 published on Tuesday.
The midfielder had collapsed on the pitch during the European Championship group match against Finland in Copenhagen on 12 June 2021 and had to be resuscitated. Teammates, the fans in the stadium, but also millions of TV viewers reacted in shock during the long minutes of uncertainty as to whether Eriksen will be able to survive this collapse. The 29-year-old is aware that tears were shed because of him, not only in the stadium but also in living rooms at home before the live broadcast, because so many would have empathised with the situation. “Thank you for the tears,” he says today, happy to still be here.
Even when he was in hospital, countless fans brought flowers for days. “I didn’t want people to send me flowers because I was dead for five minutes,” said Eriksen, who was implanted with a defibrillator. This detects heart arrhythmias and triggers shocks in an emergency.
Eriksen on the sympathy: “It was extraordinary “
Eriksen said he was touched that so many people cared about him and his health and still do. “It was extraordinary. For me it was a great support to receive all the sympathy. And people are still writing to me. I thanked everyone and I want to thank everyone,” said Eriksen, who had to terminate his contract with Inter Milan. In Italy, no athlete is allowed to play with a defibrillator. How his career will continue is open.
Eriksen dreams of World Cup participation in Qatar
Lately, he had resumed training with Odense BK in his home country to work on his comeback. In 2009, the then still 16-year-old had moved from Odense’s U19s to Ajax’s youth team and from there went on to Tottenham and finally Inter.
This year he wants to return to the big football stage. “My goal is to be at the World Cup in Qatar. I want to play,” Eriksen said. “It’s a goal, a dream. Whether I will be nominated then is another thing. But it’s my dream to come back. “