“Fire in his eyes”: Schmeichel on Eriksen’s return after heart attack
Fellow Danish soccer player Kasper Schmeichel is happy to see Christian Eriksen getting back into the game after recovering from cardiac arrest last June.
Time felt like it stood still for several moments back in June for everyone watching the European Championship game between Denmark and Finland. Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen suddenly collapsed on the field, suffering from cardiac arrest. It was a scary moment, but there is thankfully a happy ending to that story.
Eriksen's recovery and "miraculous" return to the game
30-year-old Eriksen has made a full recovery and is continuing the rehabilitation process with plans to return to the sport, already having played in two friendlies with three assists. Eriksen is able to do all of this thanks to the implantation of an ICD (Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator) which maintains his heart rhythm in the case that he experiences another episode. In Italy, it is not allowed to play with an ICD, which led to Eriksen’s release and transfer to the Premier League’s Brentford.
He could make his debut with Brentford against Newcastle this Saturday.
Eriksen feeling good
Eriksen claims to be feeling even better than he expected and is feeling positive and excited about being back.
"I feel the same excitement, the same love for touching the ball and being involved and playing soccer in general.” Eriksen said. “It's what I've been waiting for for a lot of months and being out there with a team is something very pleasing and very comforting.”
Everyone else is excited to see him back out there, too. His new coach in the Premier League Thomas Frank said that his return is “a little bit of a miracle”.
“It’s just amazing to see him back,” said fellow Danish player Kasper Schmeichel. “That fire was in his eyes. The desire was there to come back.”
“I personally can’t wait to see him playing again in the Premier League, but even more importantly for me, to have him back in the national side.”