Recharged and ready for the new season Christian Eriksen has put the penalty heartache of Russia behind him to join up with his Spurs team-mates in LA. A welcomed late-comer to the pre-season party, Eriksen dropped into a premium Nike LA experience space to chat to SoccerBible.
Getting to grips with the latest Nike Sportswear collection while adding his own pinch of customisation, the Tottenham playmaker sat down to reflect on a summer of fine lines, before attentions turned to the new season off the back of a successful World Cup for his Spurs team-mates.
Christian, is it good to be back in the US?
Yeah very good, it’s a nice place and there’s a good group of players here.
Are you surprised by the support out here?
I am! A crazy amount of people show up for training and the games, it’s been incredible here in the US. It’s a good feeling that people follow us this closely. It’s the same in Asia too. It’s good to come out and show the fans we like their support.
What did you get up to after the World Cup?
I had some time off in Denmark and my girlfriend has just had a baby so I chilled with her and the little one. It was a nice break, it’s good to spend time with family.
What did you make of Denmark's World Cup campaign? Is it a case of reflecting on what could have been?
We can be happy as a country for what we achieved. We didn’t play as well in the group stages but we still went through, which was our aim, and of course getting Croatia in the next game was difficult. To lose on penalties was even worse as that’s the worse feeling. It was difficult and Croatia went far, but we had a go and we were unlucky.
It was a strong World Cup for Spurs players. Will that give the group confidence going into the new season?
Yeah I definitely think so. The experience of going to a World Cup is always something else and it gives you a different feeling playing for your country. There are a lot of players who went through to the semi-finals and it’s a great experience that everyone will take with them in their careers. I’ve spoken to a few of the English and Belgian lads, they had a good time, as we did.
What did you make of Harry Kane's tournament?
It’s an unbelievable achievement to get the Golden Boot and he will be remembered in the history books, which is special. It was a very good tournament for him.
Big season ahead. Are you excited for getting into the new stadium?
It’s very exciting. We are all looking forward to going into it, we’ve seen all the pictures and it looks amazing. We will try to make it our home straight away and hopefully the fans will too, we want to continue how we finished at White Hart Lane.
Do you feel that this Tottenham group is close to winning silverware?
We’ve done our best in the past three seasons going for it but fallen a bit short. We are in the right position and it’s just about taking the extra step so we are going to do all we can to get a trophy.
How has your experience been at Nike today?
I’ve been a Nike athlete for as long as I remember and I’ve always been keen of the clothes, sneakers and football boots. It was fun to see something else today.
As a Nike athlete I get to try some incredible product, but this Sportpack styling is some of the coolest collections I have seen. Coming here to LA and talking with sytlists and designers has been a truly memorable experience”
Nike had such a dominant World Cup. How does it feel to be involved in the brand?
It feels very good. The World Cup speaks for itself, Nike have a lot of successful athletes. It’s a big Nike family and we can all be happy. Whoever wears Nike is happy about it.
Finally, we see you've added a couple of new pairs today. Are you big into your sneakers?
Yeah I’m a big fan, I have a lot! My favourite are the flyknit trainers, I’m a flyknit guy. The flyknit racer is the one I've had on for the longest time.
Photography by Paul Ripke for SoccerBible.
