Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen is recovering after collapsing during Denmark’s international friendly against Ukraine in Odense, an incident that led to the match being abandoned.
The 34-year-old reportedly grabbed his chest before falling to the ground in the 65th minute of the game. Following the medical emergency, the match was eventually called off by referee Sigurd Smehus Kringstad.
Denmark’s national team doctor, Morten Boesen, later confirmed that Eriksen briefly lost consciousness but regained it shortly afterward.
“He was briefly unconscious, but regained consciousness very quickly,” Boesen said.
Players from both teams immediately gathered around the midfielder as medical personnel rushed onto the pitch to attend to him.
The incident brought back memories of Eriksen’s cardiac arrest during Denmark’s match against Finland at the delayed UEFA Euro 2020 in 2021, when he was resuscitated on the field before being fitted with an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD).
Despite that setback, Eriksen successfully returned to professional football, featuring for Brentford before moving to Manchester United and later joining VfL Wolfsburg.
In an update released after Saturday’s incident, the Danish Football Association said Eriksen was conscious and in stable condition.
Boesen added that the player walked off the pitch unaided and that his implanted heart device appeared to have responded correctly.
“Christian is doing well and walked off the pitch by himself. As I see it, the pacemaker responded as it should.
“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.”
The Danish star remains under medical observation as doctors seek to establish the cause of the collapse.
