Christian Eriksen played competitive football for the first time since suffering a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020, featuring as a substitute in Brentford‘s clash with Newcastle United on Saturday.
Eriksen came on in the 52nd minute to rapturous applause, after saying earlier this month that he told paramedics to keep his boots, citing that he “wouldn’t need them,” when he suffered a cardiac arrest while representing Denmark in their Euro 2020 opener in June.
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However, the midfielder completed his remarkable return to football on Saturday, making his debut for Brentford since joining the Premier League side in January.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank announced at a news conference on Friday that Eriksen would make his debut, adding: “It’s a big day for all of us but especially Christian and his family.
“For everyone involved in football who saw what happened, that is another reminder that we are privileged to do what we do and be alive. We need to appreciate every day, every moment, which is very difficult but [that is] a good reminder for us.”
Eriksen was released by previous club Inter Milan after being fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) device, which is not permitted among professional athletes in Italy.
“The key thing is that everything has been checked and there is zero chance that something should happen. He and his family are aligned that he should play football, so that’s very important,” Frank added.
“Also for everyone… after you have had a cardiac arrest, that if it is a way out of it, you could have a normal life after you have been checked.”
Speaking at his presentation as a Brentford player, just eight months after the incident, Eriksen described his ICD as his “protection.”
“My ICD is here for my protection. It is in because, if anything would happen to me, there is no need for a defibrillator because I will have my own. It is really just extra security. I am more protected here than you guys,” Eriksen said.
“And that is how I feel. I feel very protected with it. I feel normal. I don’t feel it in any annoying way. Only going through the airport, I have to go around instead of going through a scanner.”
Eriksen previously starred in the Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur, where he played a crucial role in helping the club reach the 2019 Champions League final.