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Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen opened his sensational return to the European Championship, which he marked by grabbing Denmark’s first goal against Slovenia on Sunday.
Eriksen produced a brilliant performance at the Stuttgart Arena, but it was not enough as Slovenia restored parity with 13 minutes of regulation time remaining.
The 32-year-old struck early in the first half three years since he almost lost his life in a European Championship clash after suffering a cardiac arrest.
For 13 agonizing minutes, the world could only watch and hope for the best, while Eriksen, who fell to the floor, was attended to by medical professionals.
Fortunately, he pulled through and even revived his playing career. It was certainly a nice subplot that Eriksen scored Denmark’s opening goal at Euro 2024, setting them well on their way.
According to the player himself, he is happy that the story has changed, although he is disappointed that the national team did not win in the end.
Eriksen said after the final whistle: “I think this time at the Euros my story is a lot different than last time, which is obviously a big thing for me personally.”
“I was very pleased. I kept in mind that I didn’t score at the Euros. Luckily, there have been a lot of games since it happened (cardiac arrest).”
“I wasn’t thinking about anything else but football – I was just happy to help the team score the first goal.”
He added: “It would have been a different story if we had got the three points – it was a wake-up call for the next game.”
Meanwhile, Denmark manager Kasper Hjulmand insisted he never considered dropping Eriksen from his plans despite critics calling for him to do so amid his struggles at United in 2023/24.
Hjulmand remarked: “I never doubted Christian as a footballer, you can’t keep that kind of class. He is a natural player who knows the rhythm of the game, I know the critics said he didn’t play that much at Manchester United, but he showed quality today. I can’t wait for the next game already.”
Next up for Denmark is a game against England on Thursday.
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