Christian Eriksen marks 30th birthday by playing game again

LONDON (AP) — Christian Eriksen celebrated his 30th birthday on Monday with his first game action since suffering cardiac arrest at the European Championship.

The Denmark playmaker featured in a practice match for Brentford, the London-based Premier League club he signed for last month to resume his playing career.

Eriksen had an assist for a goal in the match against Southend which was played without any fans and Brentford said he came close to scoring himself during his hour on the field.

The last time Eriksen was involved in a game was the June 12 European Championship meeting with Finland when he said he was “gone from this world for five minutes” after collapsing.

After being fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator days after the incident, Eriksen had to be released by Inter Milan in December due to rules in Italy preventing athletes from competing with an ICD.

The former Tottenham player has passed the required medical checks and cleared to play in the Premier League with the ICD.