In his first appearance for the Danish national team, Christian Eriksen managed to make a picture-book return – and that too in a special stadium.
At the start of the World Cup preparations, the favorites Netherlands, England and Spain prevailed, but the man of the evening played for Denmark: Christian Eriksen returned to the national team 287 days following his cardiac arrest at the European Championship finals – and scored a goal straight away.
However, the midfielder was unable to prevent the 2:4 (1:3) defeat in the Netherlands. Eriksen, who had been fitted with a defibrillator, only made his Premier League comeback at FC Brentford in mid-February. In Amsterdam he came on at half-time, scored immediately (47′) and only missed the post in the closing stages (74′).
Steven Bergwijn (16’/71′), Nathan Ake (29′) and Memphis Depay (37’/penalty) were successful for the Netherlands. The second Danish goal was scored by former Bundesliga defender Jannik Vestergaard (20′).
Kane scores once more for England
At Wembley Stadium in London, Harry Kane scored England 2-1 (1-1) once morest Switzerland. The Tottenham Hotspur striker scored the victory with a hand penalty (78th), it was his 49th international goal, drawing level with the legend Bobby Charlton. Only Wayne Rooney is ahead of Kane in the all-time English goalscorers list with 53 goals.
Mönchengladbach’s Breel Embolo (22nd) had given the Swiss the lead before Luke Shaw (45th + 1) equalized.
Spain also won late – thanks to Bundesliga professional Dani Olmo who came on as a substitute. With a worth seeing shot in the corner (90th), the Leipziger secured the team of coach Luis Enrique a 2:1 (0:0) once morest Albania. Eight months before the start of the World Cup, the Furia Roja still left a lot to be desired.
Ferran Torres (75′) put the hosts ahead in Barcelona before Myrto Uzuni (85′) equalized with a slapstick goal. Spain defender Pau Torres had headed him in an unsuccessful defensive action.
