Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch during Denmark’s friendly against Ukraine in Odense, with the match abandoned after he was taken for treatment and taken to hospital. Danish FA and national team doctor Morten Boesen later confirmed Eriksen was consciou
Christian Eriksen clutched his chest midway through the second half of Denmark’s friendly against Ukraine on Sunday, then collapsed to the ground as medical staff rushed in.
Players formed a huddle around him and the match was abandoned shortly afterwards. Eriksen was taken to hospital with his wife Sabrina by his side. while the Danish FA issued an update saying the midfielder was “conscious” and “doing well in the circumstances. ” adding: “The match has been called off.”.
Inside Nature Energy Park Stadium in Odense, the big screen delivered a similar message: “The match is over. Christian Eriksen is in good condition under the circumstances.” Fans immediately started to sing Eriksen’s name and continued clapping as he received treatment.
Around ten minutes later, Danish national team doctor Morten Boesen — the doctor who saved Eriksen’s life in 2021 — returned with another update. In a statement, Boesen said Eriksen “is doing well and walked off the pitch himself.”
Boesen added that “the pacemaker responded as it should.” He confirmed that Eriksen “was briefly unconscious. but regained consciousness very quickly. ” and that the team was quickly in contact with him. Boesen said Eriksen “will be examined further at the hospital to find out what caused the incident. ” and that Denmark remained in ongoing contact with him and the doctors treating him.
Eriksen, Boesen said, asked him to tell the players he was OK and to send his regards.
The incident left the evening visibly overshadowed for everyone around the game. Eriksen, who now plays for Wolfsburg in Germany after leaving Manchester United last year, received treatment for around ten minutes before walking off to a standing ovation.
Nicklas Bendtner. covering the match as a pundit on Danish TV. struggled to hold back tears as he tried to put words to what he was seeing. He said: “These are horrible pictures, and it completely overshadows the rest of the evening. My thoughts are with the family and the children. and it’s a difficult situation to be in right now.” Bendtner said it was “the second time it has happened” and referenced how terrible it is when it’s a friend’s experience.
The collapse comes almost five years after Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020. In June 2021. he collapsed on the pitch during Denmark’s Euro 2020 match against Finland after his heart stopped for roughly five minutes. At the time. the 34-year-old later said he had “died for five minutes.” He received CPR and was taken to hospital where he was stabilised.
Eriksen made his return to football eight months later with Brentford after being fitted with a defibrillator implant into his heart, with Boesen saying the device may have saved his life this time.
In reflecting on the Euro 2020 incident to BBC Sport in 2022. Eriksen said: “I can remember everything apart from the five minutes.” He described waking up with people around him. feeling pressure on his chest. trying to get his breathing back. and later hearing in the ambulance that “five minutes” was how long he had been out.
Sunday’s match carried a cruel familiarity in the timing. Denmark had been 2-1 up when Eriksen went down, with goals from Patrick Dorgu and Joakim Maehle putting Denmark ahead before Viktor Tsygankov pulled one back for Ukraine.
The friendly was played after both sides lost in the World Cup play-offs in March. and the game was therefore listed simply as a test rather than a tournament fixture. But as Eriksen received urgent care. attention shifted away from the score and onto the seriousness of an incident that has already defined parts of his football life.
Christian Eriksen Denmark Ukraine friendly Odense Nature Energy Park Stadium Morten Boesen Wolfsburg pacemaker Eriksen collapse Euro 2020 cardiac arrest
Glad he’s awake?? I saw something about a pacemaker and just wow.
Match called off but they’re saying he’s conscious and walking off the pitch. That sounds like good news but also terrifying. Pacemaker responded as it should? Like why would it even fail in the first place smh.
I thought Denmark already had this handled like in 2021, so how does it happen again the same way. Also I don’t trust those stadium screens, they always say stuff first and then it changes later. Hopefully they figure out what caused it because this is scary.
This is why I hate “friendly” games, like bro can just breathe and not get hurt. They keep saying he was unconscious briefly but then back quick… so was it his heart or did he get hit or something? Pacemaker, 2021, Wolfsburg… feels like a whole conspiracy in my head even though I know that’s probably dumb.