Norway manager Stale Solbakken suffered a heart attack in 2001 that left him clinically dead for several minutes before he was revived by a quick-thinking team doctor. The incident occurred while Solbakken, then a midfielder for Copenhagen, collapsed during a training session.
Team doctor Frank Odgaard massaged Solbakken's heart while waiting for an ambulance. After the ambulance arrived, Solbakken was revived seven minutes later. Odgaard later said, "He was clinically dead. It is a miracle that he is still alive; his heart had stopped beating."
Life Support and Recovery
Solbakken was placed on a life support machine and remained unconscious for 26 hours. The heart attack was caused by a heart defect, and after being fitted with a pacemaker, he retired from football at age 33. Reflecting on the experience, Solbakken told UEFA in 2002, "Yes, it was a dramatic experience, but it was really worse for my family than for me because I didn't feel anything. It was simply as if the lights went out."
He later learned that his mother had begun planning his funeral on the flight to Denmark. "At first they worried whether I would survive, then whether my brain would be damaged," Solbakken told Tribuna. "Those were the thoughts that tormented my family and teammates, who witnessed me collapsing, dying and being brought back to life."
Managerial Career and Perspective
After retiring, Solbakken began his managerial career with Norwegian side Ham-Kam in 2002, later moving to Copenhagen, where he won eight league titles across two spells. The heart attack gave him a profound perspective. He told the Guardian in 2006, "Something like that definitely changes some things. I guess it is afterwards, when things have calmed down, that it has helped me differentiate between what is really important in life and what isn't. I put everything into (my job) but I also know that there are other, more important things."
Solbakken experienced English football as a player with Wimbledon in 1997, making six league appearances, and as a manager at Wolves in 2012, where his reign lasted seven months. He was part of Norway's squads at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.
World Cup 2026 Quarter-Final
Appointed Norway manager in 2020, Solbakken qualified for a major tournament in his third attempt. Norway finished second in Group I, then defeated Ivory Coast and Brazil in the knockout stages. They now face England in the country's first-ever World Cup quarter-final on Saturday. After securing their place in the knockout rounds with a win over Senegal, Solbakken climbed into the stands to share a kiss with his wife Anniken, who had been by his side during his recovery in 2001.
