CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN, DENMARK MIDFIELDER ANTICIPATING A RETURN TO PARKEN STADIUM.-‘IT’S GOING TO BE SPECIAL.’
Christian Eriksen has made a successful return to club football with Brentford and on Saturday night he scored with his first touch as he returned to international duty with Denmark, but on Tuesday night he will make an emotional return to Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, the site of the heart attack that almost killed him last year.
Denmark international Christian Eriksen is looking forward to a return to Parken Stadium in Copenhagen on Tuesday night, the site of his cardiac arrest.
The 29-year-old former Tottenham star was an Inter Milan player when it happened, in the summer of 2021 against Finland during the rearranged European Championships, but had to leave the Italian side due to regulations preventing players with pacemakers from playing in Serie A.
That left him without a club, but he has since made a successful if early return to playing after signing on a short-term deal with Premier League side Brentford, which has seen him warmly greeted even by opposition players.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of Tuesday’s international friendly against Serbia, he was not overawed by the prospect of having to revisit the site of his heart attack, which was one of most dramatic sporting events last year, and which almost cost him his life.
“I think it’s something that you can’t prepare for. It’s just going to be one of the moments, the reception.
“Obviously in Holland [on Saturday, when he scored with his first touch in his first international friendly since his heart attack] was very big, I expect it’s going to be even bigger here. It was the place it happened and people will see it, talk about it, then it’s back to normal. They’re going to have a new memory.
“It’s going to be special, I’m looking forward to it.”
Teammate Kasper Schmeichel, who was on the pitch when the incident happened, believed it was destiny that his teammate would score on his return.
“It was inevitable for me,” he told reporters. “It just had to happen – of course it did, with his quality – it’s something that if you take it out of any team, you’ll miss it. Having faced him… I know what he’s capable of and there was no one else I wanted it to fall to.”
