Fans in tears as Man Utd star Christian Eriksen scores in first Euros appearance 1,100 days after dying on pitch
CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN has scored for Denmark at Euro 2024, exactly 1,100 days since suffering a cardiac arrest at the last European Championships.
The Manchester United star, 32, slotted beyond Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak to give his side a 17th minute lead.
It just had to be him!
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 16, 2024
Christian Eriksen scores on his return to the European Championships#Euro2024 | #SVNDEN pic.twitter.com/sW6MeOkgUY
On June 12, 2021, Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest during Denmark‘s Euro 2020 clash with Finland in Copenhagen.
The midfielder collapsed on the pitch in the 41st minute of the match.
Eriksen received CPR from medical staff, and revealed to the BBC in 2022: “I was gone from this world for five minutes.”
After 15 minutes of treatment he was stretchered off, with players leaving the field.
Around two hours later, and only after having been informed that Eriksen was awake in a nearby hospital, play resumed, with Finland going on to win 1-0.
The then-Inter Milan star was ruled out until 2022, when he returned to action with Brentford having been fitted with an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator.
After a brief spell with the Bees, Eriksen joined Man Utd in the summer of 2022.
He made his international return for Denmark in March 2022, scoring in an emotional clash with the Dutch.
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Eriksen went on to become a regular again for his country, and featured at the World Cup in Qatar later that year.
As Denmark kicked off their Euro 2024 campaign against Slovenia, Eriksen was handed a start – marking his first European Championship appearance since suffering his cardiac arrest.
Just 17 minutes into the match, the midfielder made a smart run into the box, before chesting down Jonas Wind’s smart flick.
He then made no mistake, brushing the ball into the back of the net with the outside of his right boot.
Eriksen was mobbed by his team-mates, with fans also sent into dreamland.
Viewers online also found themselves welling up at the heartwarming goal.
One wrote: “I’m in tears.”
While a second gushed: “What a moment at the Euros! He died on the field at the last Euros 3 years ago. Now Christian Eriksen scores to give Denmark the 1-0 lead. This gave me & a lot of fans around the world tears. Sports!”
Another added: “If you’re a soccer fan, you gotta be shedding happy tears for Christian Eriksen right now.”