He’s back and dreaming of Qatar: Denmark star Christian Eriksen prepares for emotional return to international football in friendly against Holland – just months after suffering a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020
- Christian Eriksen is set to make an emotional return to international football
- He has not played for Denmark since suffering a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020
- Eriksen is expected to come off the bench in their friendly with Holland
- Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand said it was the ‘next step’ in Eriksen’s career
Christian Eriksen is back to his old self and ready to begin a new chapter with Denmark, according to national coach Kasper Hjulmand.
The 30-year-old midfielder, who suffered a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020, makes a remarkable return to international football in a friendly against Holland in Amsterdam on Saturday night. He looks set to come off the bench in the Johan Cruyff Arena in what promises to be an emotional night as it is the ground where he began his career with Ajax.
Eriksen said this week that he is looking forward to ‘closing that chapter and going back to being a footballer and myself again’.
Christian Eriksen is in line to make an emotional international return for Denmark on Saturday
Kasper Hjulmand is expected to bring Eriksen on as a substitute against Holland in Amsterdam
The 30-year-old has been training with his Denmark team-mates in the lead-up to the game
Hjulmand echoed those words, saying: ‘The first minutes will probably be played in Amsterdam and then the next step will be where everything happened — in Parken — on Tuesday against Serbia. Then I think we are all back to normal.
‘It’s the next step in his career. The first step was to find out if he should play football again. He had a lot of tests and everything went well. He’s there and he’s back to the old Christian.
‘The next step was to get him to a football team and to get a rhythm in his everyday life and playing matches. The next step is the national team again.’
Eriksen recently made his return to football with Brentford in the Premier League
Eriksen has been building back towards his best at Brentford since joining the Premier League club in January.
He admitted that he is surprised how quickly he has returned to the Denmark fold, saying: ‘It does not feel like I have been away.’
Eriksen dreams of making the World Cup in Qatar and defender Jannik Vestergaard said: ‘He has been the Christian that I have known for the last 15 years. It means a lot to the whole group that he is back.
‘He has a calm temperament but he also has played a big role in building our mentality, the culture and the winning gene that has developed in the national team.’
Denmark will send a message of solidarity to Ukraine by wearing a kit carrying the Ukrainian flag, which will be signed and auctioned off for charity.
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