Nearly five years ago to the day, Denmark soccer star Christian Eriksen collapsed during a UEFA Euro 2020 match on June 21, 2021.
He was immediately given CPR and later fitted with a defibrillator that allowed him to return to competitive soccer eight months later. Now, five years later, Eriksen once again collapsed on the field during Denmark’s friendly against Ukraine on Sunday afternoon.
Video of the match showed Eriksen grab his chest in the 65th minute of the game. The footage then showed players and staff calling for medical attention, with Eriksen lying on the pitch.
“Christian Eriksen is conscious and, under the circumstances, doing well,” the Danish football federation said in a post on X. “The match is called off.”
“Christian is doing well and walked off the pitch by himself. As I see it, the pacemaker responded as it should,” a statement from Denmark team doctor Martin Boesen read. “He was briefly unconscious, but regained consciousness very quickly, and we were quickly in contact with him.”
Eriksen is set to undergo further examinations at the hospital to determine the cause of the incident.
“But Christian is doing well, and he asked me to send his regards to all the players and tell them that he was okay,” the statement concluded.
Neither Denmark nor Ukraine qualified for the World Cup, which starts this week.