With a small smile on his lips, Christian Eriksen is officially back as a professional football player

A cursory glance at a sign with instructions, four sips of water from a drinking bottle to rinse the mouth and some fiddling with his uniform; Just moments before his debut for Brentford FC, Christian Eriksen looked like a sprinter awaiting the start signal. Not a kiss to his family in the stands or a look at the sky. The Dane, who suffered a cardiac arrest less than a year ago, was impatient to be a footballer again.

Eriksen made it clear after months of silent contemplation that he did not want to be remembered as a patient. The crowd at Community Stadium in west London barely got a chance to greet him with an ovation. Once inside the lines, the thirty-year-old playmaker, born on Valentine’s Day, got this message across with his feet. With every touch of the ball, sighs of admiration rippled from the stands.

The man of few words, who gave one interview in his absence, looked as fit as he did on June 12 last year at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen. Eriksen unintentionally gave a face to the fragility of life on that summer Saturday. Just before the break in the European Championship match with Finland, he collapsed. After stopping a throw-in from Joakim Maehle with the inside of his shoe, he fell over like a rag doll in slow motion.

Captain Simon Kjaer immediately sensed the seriousness of the situation. Without thinking, he put his teammate on his side to keep the airways open. The defender made an attempt to resuscitate him until federal doctor Morten Boesen arrived. Kjaer then moved his teammates to form a circle around Eriksen. In chaos he kept the presence of mind to protect the dignity of his friend.

Eriksen stopped breathing for almost four minutes. While the audience looked on in silence, doctor Boesen got his heart going again with a single shock from a defibrillator. His wife Sabrina Kvist Jensen, who attended his return on Saturday, was immediately told this news by Kjaer. Her husband, with whom she has two children, was still alive. On a stretcher, fully conscious again, Eriksen was hoisted into an ambulance, although the reason was still unclear to him.

defibrillator

On his way to the Rigshospitalet he caught what was wrong with him from a conversation. No tendon or bone caused the panic, but a faltering heart muscle. Eriksen realized during the ride why so many of the Danish internationals were crying. “I could remember everything except those minutes when I was in heaven,” he told Brentford’s program magazine. “I realized I had been dead.”

Football, Eriksen thought in his bed with a view of the stadium, he could forget. Through the window of the hospital, the then player of Internazionale heard the crowd screaming. Denmark lost – the game was resumed at UEFA’s insistence – but nobody talked about the result afterwards. The world anxiously awaited any news about Eriksen until he posted a thumbs-up photo on social media.

Doctors inserted a defibrillator into him. The physical damage was minor. According to doctors, he did not have to give up his career as a professional football player. Provided that he was monitored, Eriksen could carefully work towards a comeback. Not in Italy, where players are banned from playing with ICDs, but in other European competitions. Eriksen took his time, especially to break down a mental barrier.

While Denmark qualified for the World Cup in Qatar, he only trained at Odense Boldklub. National coach Kasper Hjalmund, who watched over him like a father, cut all questions about the availability of the star on the final round. “It’s up to Christian,” he said. “We adapt to his pace.” When Internazionale, as expected, canceled his contract by mutual consent, he picked himself up again, albeit without speaking.

At training complex De Toekomst van Ajax, where Eriksen won three national titles before his transfer to Tottenham Hotspur, he built up his fitness to elite level. Pending a suitable offer, the midfielder also got the chance to see up close how top sport works with an ICD. Daley Blind, with whom he always had a special bond, has been playing with a similar device for several years without any problems.

Like Minds

Eriksen may come across as laconic, but insecurity about his body certainly gnawed on the inside. His choice for Brentford, who first contacted him in December, is partly understandable for this reason. He knows trainer Thomas Frank from his period as national coach of Denmark Under-17. An intelligent and empathetic man who understands how Eriksen works.

The philosophy of Brentford, one of the smaller professional clubs in London, suits the footballer who above all enjoys the game and for whom the fringe matters are an annoying distraction. Inter Vice-President Javier Zanetti called him someone “with the inner class of a player from forgotten times” when he said farewell. Bee The Beesunorthodox in the good sense of the word, Eriksen meets like-minded minds.

Just thirteen years ago, Brentford was bobbing in League Two, the fourth and lowest English professional level. When fan Matthew Benham took over the club in 2012, everything changed. His approach detonated with the rest of the football world. Benham used his knowledge of statistics, data and models. With his company Sportodds, which helps predict the results of sports competitions, he earned a fortune in this way.

Trainer Frank calls Brentford a „data driven club”, but don’t want it as a football version of money ball title. This book, later made into a movie, starring actor Brad Pitt, describes how Oakland Athletics baseball club general manager Billy Beane puts together a winning team by scouting based on empirical data. Brentford also searches with a magnifying glass for unrecognized talent, but looks further and goes deeper.

The advance of Brentford proves the right of Benham, who also owns the Danish FC Midtjylland. Brentford was promoted to the Premier League for the first time last summer. Their carefully polished players go out for big money every year. Given his profile – relatively old – Eriksen does not fit into this model. But to extend the stay at the highest level, the creativity of the Dane is a must.

With home psychologists on hand, Eriksen can discuss any anxiety you may have. Against Newcastle United (0-2) there was nothing to notice on Saturday. The stylish player celebrated the start of his second football life in an almost philosophical way. Full of energy, with a small smile on your lips. As if he had never been away. “I’m back,” he summed up his debut afterwards.