Christian Eriksen scores on emotional Denmark return in defeat to Holland

Netherlands Denmark Soccer
(Image credit: Peter Dejong)

Christian Eriksen scored on his emotional return for Denmark in their 4-2 defeat to Holland.

The Brentford midfielder scored two minutes after coming on at the break as he made his international comeback for the first time since suffering a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020.

It marked a special return for the 30-year-old who needed lifesaving treatment on the pitch when he collapsed against Finland last June.

Eriksen pulled a goal back two minutes after replacing Jesper Lindstrom at the break when he swept in Andreas Olsen’s low cross.

Steven Bergwijn, Nathan Ake and Memphis Depay’s penalty had the hosts 3-1 ahead after Jannik Vestergaard had briefly made it 1-1 midway through the first half.

Tottenham’s Bergwijn made it 4-2 with 19 minutes left at the Johan Cruyff Arena and Eriksen hit the post soon after.

Elsewhere, Spain beat Albania 2-1 after Ferran Torres put them ahead with 15 minutes to go. Myrto Uzuni levelled 10 minutes later and then Dani Olmo netted an injury-time winner for the hosts.

Germany beat Israel 2-0 thanks to goals from Chelsea duo Kai Havertz and Timo Werner.

Thomas Muller hit the post with a late penalty and Yonatan Cohen missed a chance to pull a goal back in injury time when his spot-kick was saved by Kevin Trapp.

Croatia drew 1-1 with Slovenia and Finland finished with the same scoreline against Iceland, while World Cup hosts Qatar beat Bulgaria 2-1.