Denmark's Eriksen collapses again during international match

COPENHAGEN, June 7 : Danish soccer player Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch in a match against Ukraine on Sunday, but was conscious, the Danish Football Federation said in a social media post.

"Christian Eriksen is conscious and is doing well under the circumstances," the federation said in a statement on X, adding that the friendly had been called off.

Sunday's incident marked the second time the 34-year-old playmaker collapsed to the turf while representing his country.

In 2021 he collapsed during his side's opening European Championship group game against Finland in Copenhagen.

He received life-saving CPR treatment and was later fitted with a special heart-starting device known as an Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD), and he managed to resume his career at both club and international level. 

There was a dreadful sense of deja vu for Danish football on Sunday as TV pictures showed Eriksen clutching his chest before collapsing 20 minutes into the second half, and a pall of shock descended over the stadium as fans realised which player had gone down.

"There's a throw-in, and then I go out to the side, and I turn around a bit, and I see Christian on his way to the floor, and we know a little about how he reacts, what that means," Denmark captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg told Danish broadcaster TV2.

"(Everyone) reacted super-fast and with respect ... I can only compliment how much courage those who took care of Christian on the field had. I can't say much more than that you get a shock, and that the most important thing is that Christian is doing well."

Much as the players from both Denmark and Finland had done five years ago, the Danish and Ukrainian footballers quickly formed a ring around Eriksen while he was