We thought he was lost for the practice of football at a very high level, but the Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen, who had suffered a cardiac arrest in the middle of a match during the last Euro, is indeed present in Qatar to compete there. , at 30, his third World Cup (after 2010 and 2018).
Before challenging France on November 26, then Australia on November 30, his selection will start the competition on Tuesday, against Tunisia.
"It's very special to come back to the World Cup with the national team," he said at a press conference on Saturday.
And Christian Eriksen comes a long way.
“We managed to bring Christian back”
On June 12, 2021, at his home in Copenhagen, the one who was then considered one of the best European playmakers and one of the most creative on the football planet, collapsed during the Denmark-Finland match.
Victim of a serious heart attack, he was saved by the first aid gestures provided by his teammates, in particular by his captain Simon Kjaer and the side Joakim Maehle, then thanks to a cardiac massage carried out on the ground.
He was then transported to a hospital in Copenhagen.
“We managed to bring Christian back,” said Martin Boesen, the Danish team doctor.
Suffice to say that at the time, no one saw the player, who had a defibrillator implanted to prevent the risk of sudden death, playing football again.
Except perhaps Christian Eriksen himself, who, “two days” after his accident, began to think inwardly about his return to the pitch.
The tests carried out in the following weeks proved him right.
"Even with an ICD (Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator), there are no limits," he later said.
Even with this disease, there are no limits.
You can run a marathon, swim in deep water or whatever, it just depends on the diagnosis and how you feel about it."
"I told Sabrina, 'I'll leave my boots but I'll probably change my mind in a few days if everything is OK.'
Luckily everything was, after, OK"
🕤 Hear from @ChrisEriksen8 in full for the first time at 9.30pm#BrentfordFC #EriksenJoins pic.twitter.com/Y1bf0fzgog
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) February 7, 2022
Except that in Italy, where the Danish international had just won Serie A with Inter Milan, before the start of the Euro, wearing a pacemaker is a contraindication to sports activity.
After a series of medical tests in December 2021, Christian Eriksen was cleared to return to competition by doctors.
He is then seen on the training grounds of OB Odense, one of his training clubs in Denmark, where he is adored.
In January, he did a few training sessions with the young teams of Ajax Amsterdam, the Dutch club where he revealed himself before making the heyday of Tottenham (Champions League finalist in 2019).
It was finally Brentford, promoted to the Premier League, who dared to bet and offered him a contract as a professional player.
Two goals to celebrate his return to the selection
His gradual return to competition from February 15 is conclusive (11 matches and a goal in the Premier League), to the point that he is logically recalled to the national team at the beginning of spring.
Established twice, on March 26 against the Netherlands, and on March 29 against Serbia, he scored a goal in each match to celebrate his return to the national team.
Transferred this summer to Manchester United, Christian Eriksen has found a top club commensurate with his talent (he was voted his team's player of the month in September).
✔️ August: @LisandrMartinez 🎖
🆕 September: @ChrisEriksen8 🎖
Well in, Christian 👏#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 29, 2022
But since his return to competition, he has a very clear goal to achieve, beyond the European stage.
"My goal is to play the World Cup in Qatar, he said in an interview with Danish television earlier this year. I want to play, that has been my state of mind from the start. It's my goal, my dream."
On Saturday, he even clarified in front of the press that one of the first conversations he had had with the doctors in Amsterdam concerned the World Cup.
"It was about my goal to play in the World Cup if everything went well. It was my dream at the time," he clarified.
More than eleven months later, here he is ready to realize his dream and guide his teammates, semi-finalists of the last Euro.
“Before what happened to him at the Euros, I said he was the heart of our team, explained Danish coach Kasper Hjulmand on Monday. He is so by his decision-making, his way of managing the pace of the game, controlling it with his passing, his intelligence, his vision... It's great to have him back with us again. He's a fantastic player and an even better person. He gives us so much ", he added.
For assistant coach Morten Wieghorst, the Danish strategist is "a source of inspiration" for his teammates and for the whole country.
"I think he's even better than before his accident, if that's possible," he said.
Denmark's opponents have been warned, the Danish Dynamite have found their master to play and their famous laser passes.
The Blues already know something about it, they who have recently been beaten twice in the League of Nations, in June in Saint-Denis, and in September in Copenhagen, each time with a titular Christian Eriksen and influence on the tempo of the matches. throughout the 90 minutes.
The World Cup in Qatar beyond football:
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>> Mondial-2022: a political, economic or "hypocritical" boycott?
>> I have the right, I don't have the right... Guide for the good little supporter in Qatar
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