The entire footballing community came together to celebrate the return of Christian Eriksen as he made his debut for Brentford against Newcastle United in the Premier League in February.
It was the first competitive match the Danish international played since recovering from the heart problems that caused him to collapse on the pitch during Denmark’s Euro 2020 campaign.
The midfielder has already recorded an assist in just his third appearance for the club against Burnley, a week ago.
The player has offered solid performances for the Bees in this short period, looking at times as if he’s never missed a minute of football during his recovery.
As Eriksen has managed to stay in full fitness, the Dane also earned his first international call up since the Euros as he was included on the squad for Denmark’s international friendlies against the Netherlands and Serbia.
And on Saturday, the Dane made the much-anticipated return against the Dutch and also got on the scoresheet, scoring two minutes after coming on at halftime.
Andreas Olsen found space on the right-wing and his cutback found Eriksen with time and space inside the box from where the Brentford man found the top right corner with his right foot.
The crowd at the Amsterdam Arena were already on their feet applauding the former Ajax man’s return at halftime and despite the goal coming against their national side, the Dutch fans rose up in applause once again for Eriksen.
This emotional moment required a retrospective glance back at the Dane’s relationship with the Dutch ground and the Danish national team and these three numbers have shown football fans perhaps how much the goal meant to Eriksen.
3,248 days since his last goal at the Amsterdam Arena
Eriksen’s last goal at this ground while at Ajax came against Man City in the Champions League in the 2012/13 season, in a 3-1 win in the group stage.
The following season saw the Dane make his move to England as he joined Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2013. He was amongst the many talented youngsters produced at the club such as Luis Suarez, who went on to make a name in the Premier League.
497 days since his last Denmark goal
It was a similarly long wait for Eriksen to score for the Danish national team since the Euros as his last goal for Denmark came during the 2020/21 UEFA Nation’s League campaign where he scored a brace against Iceland in November 2020, in the group stage.
288 days since his last Denmark appearance
The midfielder was much joyous to make his return to the national side since the Euros in the summer of 2021 and celebrated it with his goal which was applauded by both sets of supporters at the Amsterdam Arena.
With Denmark having nailed down a spot at the Qatar World Cup, Eriksen would be looking to help the team emulate their success on the pitch at the Euros and make it a memorable tournament for the team.
