According to a professor of sports cardiology who has worked with Christian Eriksen during his Tottenham days, the Danish playmaker might not be seen in the pitch ever again.
Denmark started off their Euro 2020 campaign with a Group B match against Finland at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen. Just minutes before the half-time, Inter Milan midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch.
English referee Anthony Taylor was quick to call on the medics, who carried out the CPR procedure on the field itself. After a long delay, Eriksen has stretchered off the field and taken to the nearby Rigshospitalet.
The news that made the football community, and the world in general, heave a collective sigh of relief was that the 29-year-old was successfully stabilised. It was also revealed that he was able to speak.
However, it remains doubtful whether Eriksen will be seen with the ball at his feet again. Speaking on that topic to PA news agency, sports cardiologist Professor Sanjay Sharma said:
“I’m very pleased. The fact he’s stable and awake, his outlook is going to be very good. I don’t know whether he’ll ever play football again.”
“Without putting it too bluntly, he died today, albeit for a few minutes, but he did die and would the medical professional allow him to die again? The answer is no.
The good news is he will live, the bad news is he was coming to the end of his career, so would he play another professional football game, that I can’t say. In the UK he wouldn’t play. We’d be very strict about it,”
Eriksen’s teammates lauded for their heroics
The collective effort from the medics, players and the referee resulted in the wonderful piece of news the devastating football fans received yesterday.
Danish captain Simon Kjaer was amongst the first to come to Eriksen’s rescue. He made sure the 29-year-old didn’t swallow his tongue and started initial CPR. The Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was seen comforting Eriksen’s wife, Sabrina Kvist.
The match eventually resumed after the players were told that Eriksen is in a stable condition. Thanks to Jan Pohjanpalo’s goal, Finland went on to create history. That being said, on a night like yesterday, everything else was secondary, as the world in unison celebrated life.
