Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen has thanked fans for their support after he suffered a cardiac arrest against Finland in Copenhagen.
Team doctor Morten Boesen confirmed that Eriksen's heart had stopped beating after he collapsed shortly before half-time in the game, but he was successfully resuscitated and remains in a stable condition in hospital.
He was able to speak to his team-mates and manager soon after the incident, but the Inter midfielder has now released a statement to give fans another positive update on his condition.
"Thank you, I won't give up," he told his agent, who relayed the message to La Gazzetta dello Sport. "I feel better now - but I want to understand what's happened. I want to say thank you all for what you did for me."
Medical staff close to Eriksen have insisted the 29-year-old does not suffer from an underlying heart condition, while COVID-19 has also been ruled out as a cause of the cardiac arrest, but doctors continue to try and figure out what caused this scary incident.
Denmark boss Kasper Hjulmand told a press conference that Eriksen has been in high spirits when speaking to his team-mates, even joking that they're feeling the effects of the incident more than he is.
"Christian was concerned about us and his family," Hjulmand revealed. "He said 'I don't remember much, I'm more concerned about how you guys are doing. I think you are feeling worse than I am. I feel as if I'm about to go training now'.
"That's typical Christian. He's a hell of a player, but what a person he is as well. He would like us to play. It was good to see him smile and we will try to get ourselves together and play for Christian.
We will try to establish normality as much as possible. Maybe, for some, the time is too short to play football again, but maybe we can use it as a force to get together."
One player who did confess to being impacted by the situation was Ditch defender Daley Blind, who was diagnosed with a heart condition after complaining of dizziness during a game in 2019, before collapsing in a friendly a few months later.
"Yesterday had a huge impact on me, never mind the fact that I know Christian well as a friend,” he told NOS after playing in Sunday's 3-2 win over Ukraine. "The situation for him is terrible. Of course, I have also experienced a few things in that area, so that I had to overcome a mental hurdle to play today.
"I had to persuade myself to play but I’m proud that I did and that’s why my emotion came bursting out at the end of the game.
"I definitely thought about not taking part. The images on television and the incident had a big impact and I didn't sleep very well because of them. I really had to overcome a big hurdle to do this.”
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Source : 90min