“If you factor out the result, I’m a happy man,” said Christian Eriksen, and then he smiled. Around eight months after suffering cardiac arrest at the finals, the Denmark international, 30, is back in the game he loves. “To go through what I went through – and then to be back, that’s just a wonderful feeling,” he said on Sky.
The time had come in the 52nd minute: Eriksen came on when Brentford FC were 2-0 against Newcastle United. The spectators rose from their seats and applauded, as did the players on the pitch. Eriksen came for compatriot Mathias Jensen, who had taken Eriksen’s place at the European Championship after Jensen’s collapse. “Everyone is there. My family, my parents, my children, my mother-in-law and a few doctors who have always helped me,” Eriksen said. “What they went through is even harder than what I went through.”
As a result of his cardiac arrest during the European Championship game between Denmark and Finland (0-1) on June 12 last year, a defibrillator was inserted. That intervention prevented the continuation of his career at Inter Milan, since playing with a defibrillator is prohibited in Italy. Eriksen found a new home in Brentford in Greater London. His substitution was not only a milestone for him, but also a ray of hope for the fifteenth-placed Premier League side, who have gone eight games without a win after that 2-0 defeat.
After the final whistle, Eriksen did a little lap around the stadium, Brentford’s fans pushed aside their disappointment and celebrated. “It was nice to see,” said Danish team manager Thomas Frank. “Hopefully he can now let his feet do the talking and just talk about football.”
