Christian Eriksen: Fabrice Muamba says player must focus on recovery after collapse
- Published
Eriksen is one of his country's most experienced players
Fabrice Muamba says Christian Eriksen needs to focus on his recovery after collapsing during Denmark's opening Euro 2020 game on Saturday.
The 29-year-old Inter Milan and former Spurs player fell to the ground in the first half and was given emergency treatment, including CPR, on the field.
On Sunday, Danish officials said he was in a stable condition in hospital.
Muamba, who collapsed when his heart stopped during a game in 2012, said the incident brought back painful memories.
Medics spent six minutes trying to resuscitate the 23-year-old Bolton Wanderers midfielder during an FA Cup quarter-final, and he was said to have been "in effect dead" for 78 minutes.
Muamba recovered, but retired from the game later that year on medical advice.
"Everybody worried that I was on the floor - it's the people who are close to the person that need considering," he told BBC Radio 5 Live after the incident involving Eriksen at Copenhagen's Parken Stadium.
Fabrice Muamba returned to the Reebok Stadium for Bolton's match with Tottenham in May 2012 to thank supporters
"Christian is at the hospital. You have to look after those other people because that will affect them for a long time.
"What happened to Christian brought back stuff that I have put down in me, this emotion that is down there.
"The most important thing is that he's made that recovery. That is the most important news. I hope things turn out to be OK for him. I hope he will come through.
"He has to make the recovery he needs. From then you make a decision. For now, he is awake and that is the best news.
"Credit to the medical staff. They have done an amazing job on Christian. I like how his team-mates got together to protect him."
Sports cardiologist Professor Sanjay Sharma, who is chairman of the FA's Expert Cardiology Consensus Panel, told BBC Sport that the quick work of the medical team at the stadium had helped save Eriksen's life.
"What we saw was a young man who collapsed and there was very, very prompt and expert medical attention - within seconds they were on the pitch," he said.
"They did not shy away from starting CPR, which has been a situation in the past where they've been too worried about what the fans may be thinking, where the cameras are. They usually take the player off the pitch and that wastes time.
'Very rare'
"For every minute that is wasted there is a 7% reduction in survival. So they started CPR immediately.
"It is clear to me from what I saw that the doctors had practised this drill and were fully aware of what to do in such a situation.
"It's important to emphasise that these things are rare. They only happen to about 1 in 50,000 sportspeople. So they are uncommon, we don't hear about them.
"When they do happen, they rock the entire nation, as they have done here. So it's very very important to keep your nerves and your composure when something like this does happen."