Adored Eriksen the talisman for dynamic Denmark

Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen's return from a near-fatal heart attack at Euro 2022 to the peak of his powers during recent internationals has the country's fans dreaming of what the playmaker can achieve at the World Cup.

In a proud football nation known for punching above its weight where everyone has an opinion on the game, Eriksen stands alone as a player universally loved and the 30-year-old will arrive in Qatar primed to pay them back for their affection.

It was not always like this.

Back in 2010 Eriksen was a callow youth who had broken into the Denmark squad just in time to be included in Morten Olsen's World Cup plans, but he was not quite trusted by the Denmark coach and only played in two games in South Africa.

That did not last long and a stellar performance against England at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen the following February cemented Eriksen's position as the fulcrum of the national side for the decade to come.

The Danes missed the finals in Brazil four years later and by the time they arrived in Russia in 2018 he was the central figure in the team and had been for several years.

By then Olsen had made way for the pragmatic Age Hareide and Denmark never really got going, with the Norwegian coach failing to get the best out of his precocious playmaker.

On May 25 2021, Eriksen collapsed as he suffered a cardiac arrest in the 42nd minute as he was about to receive a throw-in in Denmark's opening group-stage match of the 2020 European Championships. The midfielder was resuscitated and defibrillation was performed before he was stretchered off the field to the hospital. Photo: AFP

Sometimes unfairly characterised as a luxury player who lacks bite, Eriksen showed great resolve to tough it out at Inter Milan under Antonio Conte, where he eventually played a key role in the team that won the Italian title in 2021.

Aside from his ability to score from distance with either foot, what sets Eriksen apart is his vision and intelligence.

He seems to be able to see how the game is going to unfold a split second before everyone else and uses that time to punish the opposition with snap shots and incisive passing.

"I think everyone knows now how good he is - what he does looks easy, but he could play on any team in the world," Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand told Reuters in a pre-World Cup interview.

Following his return, Eriksen was not permitted to play in the Serie A due to the presence of an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator he had implanted due to a cardiac arrest. Inter terminated his contract and on January 31, 2022, Eriksen signed for Premier League club Brentford on a six-month contract. On February 26, 2022, his first appearance was as a substitute in a 2–0 defeat to Newcastle United - he replaced Mathias Jensen, who came on in Eriksen's place in the game in which he suffered a cardiac arrest. Photo: AFP

As the outpouring of anguish in the wake of Eriksen's Euros heart attack showed, he is still loved by all and, having fully recovered, will again be the heartbeat of Hjulmand's team when the World Cup gets underway.

Denmark at the World Cup

Following is a statbox on

FIFA Ranking: 10 (Oct. 6)

Odds: 33-1

Previous tournaments:

Denmark made their World Cup debut in Mexico in 1986 but did not appear again until 1998 in France, where they had their best performance by reaching the quarter-finals. Since then they have twice made the last 16 (2002, 2018), going out at the group stage in 2010 and missing the 2006 and 2014 tournaments.

How they qualified:

Nine straight wins saw them cruise to victory in Group F, where they finished on 27 points, four ahead of second-placed Scotland. They scored 30 goals and conceded three.

Form guide:

After reaching the Euro 2020 semi-finals, losing to England, Denmark blasted through World Cup qualifying, winning nine straight games to book a spot in Qatar before beating France twice in the Nations League where they lost twice, to Croatia.