Goal for Danes a full-circle moment for heroic Eriksen

You have to wonder what sort of thoughts were swirling around Christian Eriksen’s head, as the Denmark talisman waited for the first whistle to sound. It would be understandable if some of them were dark, frightening, or even traumatic. For the last time he began a European Championship campaign, three summers ago, Eriksen died for five minutes.

- ALEX PATTLE

Slovenia 1

Janza (77)

Denmark 1

Eriksen (17)

That day in Copenhagen, as Denmark faced Finland, Eriksen was not brought back from the brink – he had passed it. He was brought back from the beyond. Naturally, after being resuscitated from his cardiac arrest, he could not leave the pitch under his own power. Instead, he was carefully lifted off the turf and carried off the field, as his wife and teammates tearfully feared the worst and hoped for the best – whatever that could possibly mean.

That moment, of course, could have marked the end of Eriksen’s career. Frankly, it could have marked the end. Full stop. Yet on a spring Sunday in Stuttgart, 1,100 days later, here he stood. Here he stood, here he ran, here he orchestrated and here he struck against Slovenia. Drifting between their central defenders, the 32-year-old latched onto an aerial, back-heeled pass from teammate Jonas Wind, chesting down the ball and poking it into the bottom corner.