Denmark friendly abandoned after Christian Eriksen collapses again

The former Tottenham and Manchester United midfielder collapsed on the pitch in Odense as Denmark faced Ukraine.

Television footage captured a distressing scene in the 65th minute, with Eriksen grabbing his chest before dropping to the ground.

Players from both sides instinctively gathered around him, forming a protective circle as medical staff rushed onto the pitch.

The Danish Football Federation moved quickly to ease concerns, confirming on X that Eriksen was conscious and in a stable condition. The match was abandoned shortly afterwards.

Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest during Denmark's group stage game against Finland in 2021, requiring resuscitation on the pitch before being carried off on a stretcher. He subsequently had an Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator fitted, a device designed to detect and correct dangerous heart rhythms.

Morten Boesen, Denmark's team doctor, said in a statement via the federation:

"Christian is doing well and walked off the pitch himself."As I see it, the pacemaker is responding as it should. He was briefly gone, but regained consciousness very quickly, and we were quickly in contact with him.

"He will now undergo further examinations at the hospital to determine what caused the incident.

"We are in ongoing contact with him and the doctors at the hospital, but Christian is doing well, and he asked me to send his regards to all the players and tell them that he was okay."