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Christian Eriksen says it only took him two days after his resuscitation at Euro 2020 to know he would be playing football again.

Eriksen recently completed his return to football by signing for Premier League side Brentford. The former Ajax, Tottenham and Inter playmaker had been out of action since his collapse in a Denmark match in June.

He had to be revived on the pitch after the shocking scenes. Immediately, the focus was not on his footballing future, but his health and wellbeing.

Eriksen was fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) and has since been recovering. Once he was cleared to return to football, he underwent time training with OB in Denmark and Ajax’s youth team.

After Inter released him from his contract (athletes are not allowed to play with an ICD in Italy), Brentford have brought him back into football with a contract until the end of the season.

They have insisted all the necessary care has been taken regarding his health. What’s more, they want the full focus to be on football, to protect Eriksen’s medical confidentiality.

And the 29-year-old has now revealed just how soon after his traumatic experience he was thinking about his return to his profession.

In his first official interviews with Brentford, Eriksen said: “On the way to the hospital I told Sabrina [his wife] I may as well leave my boots here.

“For me the next four or five months are to show who I am, that ? ?? ? ???????? ?????? ?????”@ChrisEriksen8 with his first interview https://t.co/7tMIO1Rj0J#BrentfordFC #EriksenJoins pic.twitter.com/HYUXX2LDkY

— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) February 7, 2022

“It changed two days later. It was in the moment. I recognised what happened to me later on that night and the next few days. Then all the tests started and all the knowledge started to come in and all the questions were being asked, ‘Can I do this? Can I do that?’ and listen to the doctors.

‘There are no limits’

“Then after that it slowly took off in a way that if I can do tests with a doctor along the way then I can slowly get back to playing football.

“There were a lot of tests to see how the heart reacted to physical training again and luckily nothing came out of that and everything was good.

“Then, every month I could push it and then I could play. But the thing was hearing from the doctors that even with an ICD there are no limits, it just depends on the diagnosis and how you feel about it.

“I’ve had to be patient but I trusted my trainer and trusted my doctor and followed the plan they made and that made me comfortable and relaxed about it – about getting back to normal. But normal for me had to change.”

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Eriksen ready for long-awaited return

Brentford manager Thomas Frank recently hailed Eriksen as the club’s greatest ever signing. However, he was not able to commit to when he may be able to debut.

Some raised concerns it could take a number of months. But there will be optimism it may be a matter of weeks instead.

Whenever he returns to the pitch, it will be an emotional occasion for Eriksen. He admitted he has never been away from the pitch for this long.

Therefore, he will need to rediscover his technical attributes. But physically, he insists he is fine.

The midfielder added: “It is the longest I have been without playing football – by far.

“I’ve been lucky that I haven’t had any injuries really. To be without football for six or seven months is a very long time. It’s been very difficult. You have to let it heal and not do anything and then I started the rehab programme.

“Then I touched a ball and I’m on a football pitch, smell the grass, football boots, then everything starts coming back. The excitement to be in the stadium and be with the team.

“Condition-wise and strength-wise I am in a very good place. It’s just the football touch that needs to come back and get up to speed. We’ll see how my body reacts but I feel very good.”

The post Christian Eriksen reveals when he knew he’d play again in uplifting first Brentford interview appeared first on TEAMtalk.