Football, Denmark: Christian Eriksen has returned to the Danish national team 287 days after suffering cardiac arrest at the European Championship – and has made a sensational comeback. The 30-year-old from Premier League club FC Brentford came on as a second-half substitute in Saturday night’s friendly against the Netherlands in Amsterdam and was greeted with a standing ovation. Barely two minutes later, the now 110-time Danish international scored to make it 2:3 before the game ended 2:4. Both teams have qualified for the World Cup in Qatar at the end of the year. National coach Kasper Hjulmand has also nominated Eriksen for the next game of the Danes against Serbia.
Eriksen collapsed on June 12, 2021 at the European Championships at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen during the game against Finland with a cardiac arrest on the lawn. Rescue workers managed to revive the experienced international and thus save his life. Exactly a month ago, Eriksen made his competitive comeback at FC Brentford in London – appropriately in the club colors red and white, which he also wears for Denmark. In the game against Newcastle United (0:2), the Dane came on as a substitute in the 52nd minute and was celebrated. After a long forced break, Eriksen has now completed his 110th international match for the former European champion. The Netherlands will receive the DFB selection again for a test duel in Amsterdam next Tuesday.
Football, 1860: TSV 1860 Munich made a fool of themselves in the Toto Cup and surprisingly missed the final. Coach Michael Köllner’s third division team lost 4-3 on penalties to fourth division club TSV Aubstadt on Saturday. In front of a sold-out crowd of 3,000 spectators in Lower Franconia, Tim Hüttl gave the underdog the lead in the 67th minute. Marcel Bär (74th) equalized for the “Lions”. Erik Tallig, Stefan Lex and Bär were unable to defeat Aubstadt goalkeeper Lukas Wenzel on penalties. TSV Aubstadt now surprisingly meets regional league club FV Illertissen in the final. The fourth division eliminated third division Würzburger Kickers in the second semi-final 3-1 (2-1). Nicolas Keckeisen (13′), Maurice Strobel (39′) and Luka Kljajic (73′) scored for the outsider, Maximilian Breunig (22′) had equalized in the meantime. The winner of the Toto-Pokal is automatically in the first round of the lucrative DFB-Pokal.
Tennis, women: After her second round victory at the WTA tournament in Miami, Iga Swiatek became the first Pole to jump to the top of the world tennis rankings. This was made possible by the surprise retirement of Australia’s Ashleigh Barty, who led the field for more than two years. Barty had her name removed from the world rankings, clearing the way for Swiatek. The 20-year-old defeated the Swiss Viktorija Golubic 6-2, 6-0 in Miami. “It’s pretty surreal,” Swiatek said. “On the one hand, these are the very special moments that you remember for the rest of your life, but on the other hand, this game was just one of many.” The next world ranking list will appear after the end of the tournament in Miami.
Soccer, Italy: After the end of the World Cup qualifier, Italy’s national coach Roberto Mancini has not yet made a decision about his future. “Let’s take the time to think and get clarity,” wrote the coach on Instagram on Saturday. “The only right step now is to put your head up and work on the future.” On Thursday, the Azzurri lost 1-0 at home to North Macedonia in the play-offs for the final places at the World Cup in Qatar. “It’s really hard to accept that, but also accepting defeats in life is part of the healthy way to grow as a person and as a sport,” continued the European champion coach.
The Italian national players, association officials and experts are in favor of continuing with the 57-year-old, who still has a contract until 2026 anyway. According to the “Gazzetta dello Sport”, a meeting between Mancini and the head of the association, Gabriele Gravina, was scheduled for Saturday. It is expected that the coach will only announce a decision after Tuesday’s sportingly insignificant international match against Turkey away in Konya. Should the coach resign, ex-national player Fabio Cannavaro is reportedly the favorite to succeed him. The only 48-year-old could be joined by veteran Marcello Lippi as technical director of the national team – the two became world champions in Germany in 2006 as captain and coach.
Football, Bundesliga: National player Matthias Ginter from Borussia Mönchengladbach has rejected rumors of an alleged agreement with FC Bayern. “I don’t know where the rumors come from that a move to Bayern Munich is certain. I haven’t made a decision about my future yet,” said the 28-year-old defender Editorial Network Germany (RND). It will “probably take a few more weeks” before he agrees with a new club, Ginter added: “It’s also open at the moment whether it’s at home or abroad. There are different options and I’m curious to see which ones there are will end.”
At Bayern, he is being treated as a possible successor to Niklas Süle, who is moving to Dortmund. In Gladbach, which Ginter is leaving on a free transfer after five years, he would have “desired a different ending”. There has been “a lot of unrest around the club – unfortunately also around me” in the past few months: “I didn’t know this hustle and bustle. These many construction sites, also outside of the sporting side, certainly didn’t help things to get better on the pitch ran.” He was grateful for the “outstanding time” at Borussia.
Soccer, Turkey: Mesut Özil is facing abrupt exit from Fenerbahce Istanbul. The 2014 world champion was excluded from the squad of the Turkish first division club, as the club announced on Thursday. The same applies to teammate Ozan Tufan. According to the sports newspaper fanaticism the decision was made for an indefinite period. Fenerbahce initially did not want to comment on the message when asked. Özil’s move from Arsenal to Fenerbahce in early 2021 was greeted euphorically by the top club’s fans. A few months later, disappointment with his performance was already loud. Fenerbahce recently rejected speculation that Özil did not want to play because of unpaid salaries. Corresponding reports have “nothing to do with the truth,” said the club. Özil’s contract with the club runs until 2024.
Club president Ali Koc said in an interview in November that Özil finally had to concentrate on his work. “He needs to put his business matters aside and focus more on how to best contribute and do his best for Fenerbahce,” said Koc. There were several reports of upsets between Özil and Fenerbahce. Most recently, after a substitution, there was a dispute between the 33-year-old and coach Ismail Kartal, it said. It is speculated that Özil is aiming for an early move to the USA.