Christian Eriksen 'doing well' after Denmark scare as doctor says 'pacemaker responded as it should'
Veteran midfielder in hospital for further checks after match in Copenhagen
Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen is “conscious and doing well” after he appeared to collapse during the second half of his country’s friendly against Ukraine in Odense on Sunday evening.
Television images showed Eriksen holding his chest during the 65th minute of the game at Odense Isstadion and the match was quickly halted as concern grew from both teams for the former Tottenham and Manchester United playmaker.
Eriksen collapsed at Euro 2020 during a 1-0 loss to Finland and it later emerged he had suffered a cardiac arrest. He subsequently required an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator device to be fitted to ensure he could resume his playing career, but the 34-year-old sparked more fears on Sunday before Danish Football Union provided a positive update.
“Christian Eriksen is conscious and doing well under the circumstances,” a statement by DFU read. “The match has been called off.”
Danish team doctor Morten Boesen, who was also involved with the national team when Eriksen collapsed five years ago, confirmed the midfielder was at hospital to have more tests.
“Christian is doing well and walked off the pitch by himself. As I see it, the pacemaker responded as it should,” Boesen said in a statement via DBU. “He was briefly unconscious but regained consciousness very quickly and we were quickly in contact with him.
“He will now undergo further examinations at the hospital to determine what caused the incident. We are in ongoing contact with him and the doctors at the hospital.
“But Christian is doing well and he asked me to send his regards to all the players and tell them that he was okay.”
Denmark led the match 2-1 before the game was abandoned after goals from Patrick Dorgu and Joakim Maehle. Ukraine netted just before half time through Viktor Tsygankov.
Eriksen was winning his 151st cap for Denmark and spent this season with German side Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga.
He was part of the Danish squad that battled with Scotland for a place at the World Cup during the qualifiers before the Danes finished second in the group.
They reached the play-offs but were knocked out on penalty kicks by Czechia in the final.
Eriksen started Denmark’s goalless draw with DR Congo on Wednesday evening, playing 74 minutes, and has been a regular for his club through the season.
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