Copenhagen (AFP) - Christian Eriksen collapsed during Denmark’s friendly against Ukraine on Sunday, five years after suffering a cardiac arrest during the European Championships.

“Christian Eriksen is conscious and doing well under the circumstances,” the Danish football association wrote on social media.

The 34-year-old has worn a pacemaker on his heart since he collapsed during the group stage game against Finland at Euro 2020, which was played in 2021.

That led to him spending more than six months away from football.

On Sunday, he fell to the ground in the 64th minute of the match, with Denmark leading 2-1 at the time.

“There was a throw-in and walked calmly to the touchline. Then I turned around and I saw Christian collapse,” Denmark captain Pierre Emile Hojbjerg told Danish station TV2.

“We know very well what that means and the reaction was extremely rapid and respectful.”

Medical staff rushed onto the pitch to give Eriksen assistance, while players gathered around him to shield the scene from television or smartphone cameras.

The referee called off the match a quarter of an hour later.

“It’s an extremely shocking experience for everyone, the staff, the players and the opponents,” said Danish coach Brian Riemer, who previously worked with Eriksen at Brentford.

“He’s someone who counts a lot for me. You’re closer to certain players than others and he was one of the ones I got close to at Brentford.”

Eriksen was subsequently taken to hospital in Odense, where the match was played.

- ‘It’s really awful’ -

“The main thing is that he was able to walk off by himself, because that makes you think he’s doing ok given the circumstances,” former player Niklas Bendtner told TV2.

“But these are terrible images that outweigh the rest of the evening… It’s the second time it’s happened and as a friend of Christian’s… it’s really awful.”

Denmark’s team doctor Morten Boesen said Eriksen was “doing well”.

“As I see it, the pacemaker responded as it should.

“He was briefly unconscious, but regained consciousness very quickly, and we were quickly in contact with him.

“He will now undergo further examinations at the hospital to determine what caused the incident.

“We are in ongoing contact with him and the doctors at the hospital.

“But Christian is doing well and he asked me to send his regards to all the players and tell them that he was ok.”

He said he had been in contact with Eriksen’s cardiologist in Denmark, who would be able to analyse the data from the pacemaker.

When Eriksen suffered his cardiac arrest at Euro 2020, the match resumed, with Finland winning 1-0.

European football’s governing body UEFA had told the team they had to either resume the match there and then or do so at midday the following day, a stance which came in for much criticism, including by Denmark great Peter Schmeichel, whose son Kasper was in goal for the national side, who called it “absolutely ridiculous”.

He also accused UEFA of showing a lack of “compassion”.

Denmark’s then-coach Kasper Hjulmand said afterwards: “We should not have played.”

Denmark also lost their following match to Belgium but then won three in a row to reach the semi-finals, where they were beaten by England.

Eriksen resumed his career seven months later at Brentford in the Premier League having been forced to leave Inter Milan due to Italy’s rules against playing with a pacemaker.

He went on to join Manchester United, where he won the FA Cup and League Cup, and now plays for Wolfsburg in Germany, where he has another year to run on his contract.

He also resumed his international career, playing for Denmark at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and Euro 2024 in Germany.

Denmark have not qualified for the World Cup in North America, which starts next week.