'So happy': Christian Eriksen's good news after terrifying collapse

Danish footballer Christian Eriksen has shared an update from hospital after his terrifying on-field collapse during a Euro 2020 tournament last weekend.

Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field late in the first half of Denmark's clash with Finland.

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He was resuscitated on the field, and has since been making good progress in hospital.

In his first public message since Saturday's incident, Eriksen published a photo on Instagram showing himself smiling and making a thumbs-up gesture in his hospital bed in Copenhagen.

"Big thanks for your sweet and amazing greetings and messages from all around the world. It means a lot to me and my family," Eriksen said.

"I'm fine - under the circumstances. I still have to go through some examinations at the hospital, but I feel okay.

"Now, I will cheer on the boys on the Denmark team in the next matches. Play for all of Denmark."

Denmark's next match is on Thursday against world No.1 Belgium in Copenhagen and will be followed by their final group game on Monday against Russia.

They lost the encounter to Finland 0-1 when it was restarted some two hours after the incident.

But UEFA's decision to restart the match has sparked widespread backlash, with many believing Eriksen's rattled teammates shouldn't have been put in that position.

UEFA criticised for restarting Denmark, Finland match

The governing body said the match was only restarted after both teams agreed to carry on.

“UEFA is sure it treated the matter with utmost respect for the sensitive situation and for the players," a spokesman said on Monday.

"It was decided to restart the match only after the two teams requested to finish the game on the same evening.”

However Denmark great Peter Schmeichel, the father of current national team goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, questioned that claim on British TV.

Schmeichel said the players felt they had little choice when given the options to resume, come back on Sunday at noon, or forfeit the game as a 3-0 loss.

“I actually saw an official quote from UEFA saying they were following the advice of the players — the players insisted on playing. I know that not to be the truth,” he told Good Morning Britain.

“Or, it’s how you see the truth.

“They were left with three options. One was to play immediately and get the last 50 minutes played. The next one was to come in (the day after) at 12 noon and finish the 50 minutes. And the third option was to forfeit the game and lose 3-0.

“So, work it out for yourself. Is it the players’ wish to play? Did they have any choice really? I don’t think they had.”

Kasper Schmeichel has since said: "We were put in a position, that I personally feel that we shouldn’t have been put in."

The Leicester City goalkeeper said he wishes someone would’ve said “that it wasn’t the time to take that decision, and that we should maybe wait until the day after to decide”.

“What has happened has happened, and hopefully they’ll learn from this,” Schmeichel said.

With agencies

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