Christian Eriksen enjoyed a fairytale comeback at Euro 2024 as the Danish midfielder opened the scoring for his nation in his first match back at the tournament since suffering a cardiac arrest in 2021.
Eriksen was teed up superbly by Jonas Wind in the 17th minute before cooly slotting past Jan Oblak to give his side the lead against Slovenia.
It marks a remarkable comeback for the Manchester United midfielder who collapsed on the pitch 1,100 days ago at the previous edition of the tournament having suffered a cardiac arrest.
After receiving treatment and CPR on the pitch for 15 minutes, he was taken to hospital where he went on to make a successful recovery.
Denmark went on to upset the odds and reach the semi-finals but it wasn’t until January the following year that Eriksen was cleared to make his comeback to professional football.
Having joined Premier League side Brentford from Inter Milan, Eriksen went on to make 11 appearances for the Bees before moving to Manchester United at the end of the season.
The 32-year-old eventually made his international return in March 2022 and was included in Denmark’s squad for the Qatar World Cup later that year.
Now, making his return to the European Championship, the midfielder added another chapter to his remarkable comeback story as he back got Denmark’s tournament off to a flyer with his 42nd international goal.
‘It was a golden moment for him. His first game in a Euros after what happened three years ago – it’s an amazing goal; clever, intelligent and all you would expect from him,’ former United defender Gary Neville said on ITV at half-time.
Denmark will hope to repeat their impressive display at the last Euros but must first navigate a tricky group which includes England and Serbia as well as the aforementioned Slovenia.
Heading into the tournament, Denmark boss Morten Wieghorst tipped Eriksen to play a key role in his nation’s efforts.
‘He can find that space and time to exploit the defences of the opponents, so that’s his major strength,’ Wieghorst told Reuters.
‘And then in terms of pressing, we have to accommodate a player of his stature.’
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