Christian Eriksen has confirmed in a public statement that he is "feeling better" after suffering a cardiac arrest during Denmark's European Championship opener against Finland.
The 29-year-old suddenly collapsed in the 40th minute of Saturday's Group B clash and was given CPR by heroic medics, who later revealed Eriksen "was gone" before being resuscitated with a defibrillator.
After several concerning minutes, the midfielder was carried off the pitch on a stretcher and taken to the nearby hospital Rigshospitalet, where he was later declared as being in a stable condition.
It was soon reported that Eriksen had spoken to the Denmark squad from his hospital bed after their clash against Finland was postponed.
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Eriksen's teammates, who created a shield around the player so doctors could attend to him without fans in the stadium seeing, then decided to play on after speaking to their teammate.
Two days on and the Inter Milan midfielder has released his first public message through his agent.
"Thank you, I won't give up. I feel better now - but I want to understand what's happened," he said via Gazzetta dello Sport.
"I want to say thank you all for what you did for me."
Denmark's team doctor Dr Morten Boesen gave a terrifying insight into the moment he and his staff brought Christian Eriksen back to life following his collapse.
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"We were called on the pitch when Christian fell over," he said via iNews.
"I did not get to see it, but it soon became clear that he had fallen over. When we got there, he was lying on his side and was breathing.
"We felt the pulse, but pretty quickly the picture changed, and then we started life-saving heart treatment.
"There was fantastic help from the stadium doctor and the rest of the emergency services, and with that collaboration we got what we needed.
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"We got Christian back, who spoke to me before he was taken to the hospital."
Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand was reduced to tears when he shared his thoughts on Eriksen's situation.
"It was a really tough evening, on which we've all been reminded what the most important things in life are," said the 49-year-old, who praised his players despite Denmark's European Championship loss.
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He added: "It's meaningful relationships. It's those people who are close to us. It's family and friends.
"Everything, everything, everything - all thoughts are with Christian and his family.
Topics: SPORT, Football, Denmark, Christian Eriksen
