Christian Eriksen vows he 'won't give up' after Euro 2020 collapse

14 June 2021, 08:50 | Updated: 14 June 2021, 13:07

Danish Midfielder Christian Eriksen has said he will not "give up" in his first public words since he collapsed during a Euro 2020 match against Finland.

In a short statement to fans via his agent, he told Gazzetta dello Sport: "Thank you, I won't give up. 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."

The 29-year-old Dane was resuscitated after receiving "life-saving heart treatment" on the pitch, Denmark's team doctor Morten Boesen said.

Dr Boesen later confirmed Eriksen was stable having suffered a cardiac arrest and that "he was gone" prior to being resuscitated.

Read more: Christian Eriksen sends 'greetings' to teammates after collapsing on pitch at Euro 2020

He is in a stable condition and recovering in hospital after collapsing at around the 40-minute mark of Denmark's first Euro 2020 game against Finland.

Attempts to bring back the star midfielder got under way almost immediately on the pitch while play in Copenhagen was temporarily suspended.

The former Tottenham Hotspur footballer, now of Inter Milan, received CPR while his visibly distressed teammates formed a ring around him to prevent spectators and cameras from seeing the urgent treatment.

Eriksen was brought back to life by medical teams and UEFA later confirmed he was "now in hospital and in a stable condition".

His team-mates formed a shield round him while he was being treated on the pitch and Peter Schmeichel is concerned how the incident will impact Denmark's players .

He added: "It's very difficult to say exactly what the longer-term impact will be (for the players) from that experience, which I know having spoken to Kasper was very traumatic for everyone.

"It's a very dramatic scene when someone has to be defibrillated and shocked back to life."

The game was restarted later that evening, with Finland winning 1-0 after Denmark's Pierre Emile Højbjerg missed a penalty that would have likely been taken by Eriksen had he still been on the pitch.

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel has since claimed Denmark did not want to restart the match.

The father of Denmark and Leicester City's goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, admits he didn't think the players had a choice.

Denmark's players have supposedly criticised UEFA for the way they handled the events after only giving them options to restart the game the same day, the following day or to forfeit the match 3-0.

When asked if it was the players' decision for the game to be restarted after Eriksen had been taken to hospital, Schmeichel said: "Well that's an interesting debate.

"I actually saw an official quote from UEFA yesterday saying that they were following the advice of the player, the players insisted on playing - I know that not to be the truth.

"Or, it's how you see the truth. They were left with three options, one was to play immediately and get the last 50 minutes played.

"The next one was to come in yesterday at 12 noon and finish the 50 minutes and the third option was to forfeit the game, 3-0.

"So work it out for yourself. Is it the players' wish to play? Did they have any choice really? I don't think they had.

"As you can hear from yesterday's press conference, the coach, he seriously regrets putting the players back on to the pitch."