Christian Eriksen returns to playing after cardiac arrest

Sat, Feb 26, 2022
Other News (AP)

LONDON (AP) - Christian Eriksen returned to competitive football, 259 days after a cardiac arrest during a European Championship game for Denmark, as a second-half substitute for Brentford against Newcastle on Saturday.

The stadium in west London united in applauding Eriksen's entry to the Premier League in the 52nd minute against Newcastle, an uplifting moment for a player the world feared the worst for when he collapsed last June.

The playmaker has been fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator which meant he had to leave Serie A team Inter Milan due to Italian regulations.

But Brentford stepped in to sign the free agent in the January transfer window. In his own words, Eriksen said he was "gone from this world for five minutes" after collapsing during Denmark's game against Finland on the second day of the European Championship.

Now, after featuring in two warm-up games recently for Brentford without fans, Eriksen has made his competitive return to action - with playing at the World Cup in November his target.

___

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports