Recovering Danish star to receive pacemaker
COPENHAGEN — Christian Eriksen will be fitted with an implantable device to monitor his heart rhythm, the Danish soccer federation said Thursday.
The 29-year-old Eriksen is recovering in a Copenhagen hospital after suffering cardiac arrest during Denmark’s game against Finland at the European Championship.
The Danish federation said doctors have determined that Eriksen needs to have an ICD — implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, a type of pacemaker.
“This device is necessary after a cardiac attack due to rhythm disturbances,” the federation said in a statement. “Christian has accepted the solution and the plan has moreover been confirmed by specialists nationally and internationally who all recommend the same treatment. We encourage everybody to give Christian and his family peace and privacy at the following time.”
An ICD monitors a person’s heartbeat and can send electrical pulses to restore a normal rhythm if necessary.
Netherlands defender Daley Blind still plays professionally with an ICD. He had one fitted after being diagnosed with an inflamed heart muscle in 2019.
Denmark played Belgium in its second Euro 2020 game on Thursday and lost 2-1. The game featured a minute’s applause for Eriksen just after the clock hit 10 minutes in honor of his No. 10 national team shirt.
Substitute Kevin De Bruyne set up one goal and scored the winner himself to give Belgium the victory. De Bruyne came on after halftime for his first appearance since suffering a facial fracture in the Champions League final and squared the ball for Thorgan Hazard to tie the game in the 55th minute. He then scored in the 71st with a low shot from outside the area.
“Today, we will enter the pitch against Belgium with Christian in our hearts and thoughts,” Denmark captain Simon Kjaer said before the match in his first public statement since the incident. “It gives us peace in our minds. We will play for Christian, and as always for all of Denmark. That is the greatest motivation for us all.”
Kjaer, who is close friends with Eriksen and his family, was one of the first players to come to the midfielder’s aid after his collapse. He called it “a shock that will be part of me — part of all of us — forever.”
One of the doctors who helped treat Eriksen on the field told German media that the midfielder could speak and think clearly immediately after he was resuscitated with a defibrillator.
Jens Kleinefeld, who is a senior medical officer at UEFA, said the defibrillator was used after a few minutes of cardiac massage.
“About 30 seconds later the player opened his eyes and I was able to speak to him directly,” Kleinefeld said. “That was a very moving moment, because with such medical emergencies in everyday life the chances of success are much lower. Eriksen looked at me and I asked him: ‘Well, are you back with us?’ And he replied: ‘Yes, I am with you again.’ ”
NETHERLANDS 2, AUSTRIA 0
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Memphis Depay and Denzel Dumfries scored a goal in each half as the Netherlands comfortably beat Austria to advance to the round of 16.
Depay sent a penalty kick low into the corner in the 11th minute for his 27th goal in 66 international matches. Dumfries then scored his second goal of the tournament — after his late winner against Ukraine — in the 67th after an unselfish pass from PSV Eindhoven teammate Donyell Malen.
The Netherlands is playing at a major international soccer tournament for the first time in seven years and qualified for the knockout stage with a game to spare.
UKRAINE 2, NORTH MACEDONIA 1
BUCHAREST, Romania — Andriy Yarmolenko and Roman Yaremchuk both scored to give Ukraine a victory over North Macedonia.
The same two players also scored in the team’s opening match at Euro 2020 on Sunday, but that ended up being a 3-2 loss to the Netherlands.
Yarmolenko netted from close range in 29th minute after Oleksandr Karavaev’s flick from a corner. He then released Yaremchuk on the right flank in the 34th minute to double the lead with a low shot past onrushing goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski.