Christian Eriksen says he knew he would play football again just two days after suffering a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020.
Eriksen has signed for Brentford on a six-month deal, making a remarkable return to the Premier League just seven months after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Eriksen left Inter Milan in December by mutual consent after being suspended by the Italian medical authority from playing in Serie A due to a rule prohibiting the use of an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) device he has had fitted.
The 29-year-old had the ICD fitted after he suffered a cardiac arrest during Denmark’s Euro 2020 match against Finland in Copenhagen. He has completed all the necessary medical checks and is fit to return to football.
In an interview with Brentford, when asked when he had started to believe he could play football again, Eriksen said:
“Two days later. I was in the moment, and I realised what had happened to me later on that night and then into the next few days what was really going on.
“All the tests start and the knowledge started to come in. Questions were being asked over whether I could do this or that, I listened to the doctors, and then afterwards it just slowly took off.
“If I could do the programme with the tests the doctor set me, then I could slowly get back to playing football. First of all, there were a lot of tests to see how the heart reacted to physical training again.
“Luckily, nothing came out of that so everything was good. Every month, I could really push it and then I could play. Even with an ICD, there are no limits. Even with this condition, there are no limits.
“You can run a marathon, deep-dive swimming or whatever, it just depends on the diagnosis and how you feel about it. I told Sabrina [his wife] I’d leave my boots but also to not be surprised if in a few days, I’d change my mind if everything was OK. Luckily, it’s been OK.”
