Andros Townsend would encourage Christian Eriksen to announce his retirement after collapsing on the pitch for Denmark.
The midfielder went to ground during a friendly against Ukraine on Sunday and given urgent care from medical staff in worrying scenes.
Thankfully, Eriksen was conscious and able to walk off the pitch, with the match later being abandoned.
Neither Denmark nor Ukraine have qualified for the 2026 World Cup.
It came almost five years to the day since he suffered a cardiac arrest in Denmark’s Euro 2020 group stage match against Finland.
The 34-year-old was then fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), which helps manage any abnormal heart rhythms.
Eriksen has since played for Brentford, Manchester United and VfL Wolfsburg, and made over 40 more appearances for Denmark.
But, when appearing on talkSPORT, his former Tottenham Hotspur teammate Townsend was asked if he would advise him to retire.
“Of course, on the outside, yes, I’d advise him,” he told the Breakfast show (via talkSPORT). “There are so many more important things to worry about, he’s got a lovely family to worry about.
“But, who knows what goes on inside the heads of anybody? Let alone a footballer who’s worked so hard to get to where he’s got to, who’s almost died on the pitch and has come back to play for Manchester United, one of the biggest clubs in the world.
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“So, it’s difficult to know what’s going on in his head but of course, at the moment, there are more important things to think about than a football match.”
Townsend then explained that, despite the worrying incident, Eriksen was in a much better position thanks to his ICD.
“Reading a bit more into it, speaking with him and doing some research, I think Christian Eriksen is probably in one of the most privileged positions that if that does happen, like it did, he’s got the defib in his heart, so he’s going to be shocked back to life.
“It’s a scary moment, but I think he’s actually… I don’t want to sound bad, but I think he’s as safe as can be, the fact that he has that defib that can shock him if it does happen, and it did happen yesterday.”
