Christian Eriksen.Photo: FRIEDEMANN VOGEL/AFP via Getty Images
Christian Eriksen is “in good spirits” after hesuffered cardiac arrest and collapsedduring Saturday’s Euro 2020 opening match against Finland.
The soccer player, 29, has sincerecorded a video messagefrom the hospital for his teammates from Denmark, updating them on his condition and encouraging them to focus on their next game against Belgium on Thursday, according to ESPN.
“We are in touch with him,” Jakob Hoeyer, communications director at the Danish football association, told reporters on Monday. “We were in touch with him yesterday and today. [His] condition is the same as yesterday, stable, good.”
Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel also visited his teammate in the hospital. “It was damn nice to see him smile and laugh and be himself and just feel that he is there,” he told Danish broadcaster DR. “It was a great experience and something that has helped me a lot.”
After collapsing facedown on the pitch in the 43rd minute, Eriksen received urgent medical attention for about 10 minutes. Applause erupted as the midfielder’s teammates accompanied him in a stretcher off the field before he was transported to a hospital in Copenhagen. It was reported later in the day that Eriksen was “awake” and in stable condition.
FRIEDEMANN VOGEL/AFP via Getty Images
His agent Martin Schoots said Eriksen is still undergoing tests. “We spoke this morning [Sunday]. He was joking around and in good spirits, he was doing well,” hesaidto Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport on Monday.
“We all want to understand what happened to him and he wants to as well,” Schoots added. “The doctors are doing some detailed examinations, it will take time. Christian does not give up. Him and his family want to send everyone their thanks.”
“UEFA is sure it treated the matter with utmost respect for the sensitive situation and for the players,” the organization said in a statement. “It was decided to restart the match only after the two teams requested to finish the game on the same evening.”
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Although the UEFA noted that “the players' need for 48 hours' rest between matches eliminated other options,” many have scrutinized their decision to resume the game the same day. “The players were probably not given a real option in terms of taking a good decision that was in that moment in balance with where they were mentally,” Jonas Baer-Hoffmann, general secretary of international players' union FIFPRO, told Reuters. “There’s a lot of lessons that need to be drawn from this.”
“It would have been better to cancel the game in that evening,” Baer-Hoffmann added. “Take a bit of time, take a breath, look at it with a bit more distance, look at what are the options to carry on with the game or not, and if the game can’t be replayed then I think also that would not be very important in comparison to what happened there to Christian.”
source: people.com
