Christian Eriksen made a triumphant return to the Euros by putting Denmark ahead 17 minutes into their first game of Euro 2024, three years on from the worrying scenes that almost cost him his life at the last edition of the Euros.
Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest in the opening group stage game of Denmark’s Euro 2020 campaign against Finland, prompting serious concern for the then-Inter man’s wellbeing.
But the midfielder made a full recovery and returned to action with Brentford in 2022 before joining Manchester United later that year; he remains at the club to this day with another year left on his contract at Old Trafford.
It just had to be him! Christian Eriksen scores on his return to the European Championships 🙌#Euro2024 | #SVNDEN pic.twitter.com/sW6MeOkgUYJune 16, 2024
Christian Eriksen sparks Denmark celebrations against Slovenia
It was a beautiful moment, then, for Eriksen to get his country off to such a brilliant start to Euro 2024, opening the scoring in their first group C clash against Slovenia on Sunday afternoon.
Eriksen got onto a clever flick-on from Jonas Wind off a quickly-taken long throw into the Slovenia box, chesting the ball down and then, despite being off balance, poking the ball into the far bottom corner, leaving Jan Oblak rooted to the spot.
In doing so 32-year-old Eriksen has become Denmark’s oldest-ever goalscorer at a European Championships, beating the record of then-30-year-old Martin Braithwaite against Wales at Euro 2020.
Denmark will be hoping to replicate or improve on their impressive Euros campaign last time out, when they reached the semi-finals before being beaten by England in extra time.
They followed that up with a disappointing showing at the 2022 World Cup, however, comin bottom of a group containing France, Australia and Tunisia without winning a game and scoring just a single goal.
More Euro 2024 stories
We have a guide on how to get Euro 2024 tickets if you're still looking to go to the tournament.
We also have the run-down on Euro 2024 stadiums, with info on host cities, capacities, and everything you need to know. We have a list of the Euro 2024 favourites, with best odds on nations to win European Championship in Germany, while these are the best Euros games ever and these are the best pundits ever.
With England set to be one of the favourites, meanwhile, we've analysed what the pathway to the final could look like for the Three Lions. With plenty of favourites for the tournament in 2024, here's a look at the previous records of some of the bigger nations at the tournament.
