He started again with a defeat but for him, it's a great victory.
This Saturday, eight months after his heart attack in worldview during Euro 2021, Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen played football again in the Brentford-Newcastle match (0-2).
Exactly 259 days after the tragedy.
The images of the Dane lying on the lawn of the Parken stadium in Copenhagen, surrounded by his teammates and under the eyes of the 32,000 spectators, had caused a wave of emotion in the world of football.
Eriksen considers that he was "dead for five minutes" from this 42nd minute when he collapsed on the lawn, under the helpless gaze of his partner Sabrina Kvist on the bench, before being revived on the field by doctors.
In the 52nd minute of the match against Newcastle, he entered the pitch to replace Mathias Jensen.
His Brentford team were already down 0-2 and had been ten against eleven since Da Silva was sent off after just eleven minutes.
The match was already lost but Thomas Frank, his coach, kept his word to give the miraculous Dane some playing time.
As expected, Brentford supporters gave him a standing ovation when he took his first steps on the pitch.
Several banners and messages in his honor were visible in the public.
In the stands, family and friends of Eriksen had also come especially to celebrate his rebirth.
Eriksen is officially on for Brentford.
What a moment this really is.
pic.twitter.com/Pa2avEbglg
— The Spurs Web ⚪️ (@thespursweb) February 26, 2022
Given lost for football, the 30-year-old Danish midfielder has, however, been deemed fit for high-level sport.
He wears a defibrillator and had to leave his former club, Inter Milan, because Italian law does not allow a top athlete to practice his discipline with a defibrillator.
England are more tolerant on that side and so Eriksen crossed the Channel to become a professional footballer again.
He therefore joined Brentford in January.
Since then, he had played two friendlies against Southend, then against the Glasgow Rangers reserve on Monday, with two assists in the key, before returning to the Premier League attended for seven seasons at Tottenham from 2013 to 2020.