Eriksen 'was gone' after suffering cardiac arrest: Denmark team doctor

Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest when collapsing on the pitch against Finland and "was gone" before being resuscitated, Denmark's team doctor has said. Inter midfielder Eriksen was given CPR by medics in the first half of Saturday's Euro 2020 match after falling to the ground with no other player around him.

The fixture was originally suspended, but Eriksen was later confirmed to be "awake" and the game resumed a little under two hours later, with Finland winning 1-0 in Copenhagen. The Danish Football Union (DBU) provided a further update on Sunday confirming Eriksen remains in a stable condition pending further examinations.

Speaking at a news conference called by the DBU on Sunday, team doctor Morten Boesen revealed the full extent of the worrying incident that overshadowed the result itself.

"We got him back after one defib. That's quite fast," Boesen said. "He was gone. We did cardiac resuscitation, it was a cardiac arrest. How close were we [to losing him]? I don't know."

Denmark skipper Simon Kjaer has been widely praised for stopping Eriksen from swallowing his tongue and placing his stricken team-mate in the recovery position. Medics were on the field within seconds and provided the 29-year-old with life-saving treatment, before escorting him to a nearby hospital where he is being monitored.

"When I got to him, he was on his side, he was breathing, I could feel a pulse, but suddenly that changed and we started to give him CPR," Boesen said. "The help came really fast from the medical team and the rest of the staff with their co-operation, and we did what we had to do and managed to get Christian back."

Denmark's next Group B match is against Belgium in Copenhagen on Thursday.