There were emotional scenes when Norway booked their knockout spot at the World Cup when Stale Solbakken ran into the stands.
The coach sprinted to find his wife, planting a big kiss on her after a 3-2 win over Senegal confirmed their last 32 spot against Ivory Coast.
The two have been through plenty during his career, particularly in 2001 when his time as a player came to an end.
Solbakken’s heart stopping moment
Solbakken suffered a heart attack while playing for Copenhagen, but this was two decades ago when protocols were far slower.
Solbakken wasn’t resuscitated until seven minutes later, and then spent the following 30 hours in a coma.
“He was clinically dead. It’s a miracle he’s still alive. His heart had stopped beating,” said FC Copenhagen’s doctor, Frank Odgaard.
Reflecting on the horrible moment, Solbakken recounted: “It was simply as if the lights went out.”
Tests revealed that Solbakken had been born with a heart condition.
He now lives with a pacemaker due to an undiagnosed congenital heart defect, and unsurprisingly had to retire, later becoming a coach.
“Something like that definitely changes things,” he said.
“When I go into training or a game, you don’t think about that; you’re completely focused on what you’re doing and you want to win at all costs.
“I think it’s afterwards, when things calm down, that it helped me differentiate what’s really important in life from what isn’t.”
Solbakken went on to coach in Denmark, England and Germany before returning home where he shone as a player.
As a midfielder, he was part of the team that went to the last 16 in 1998, Norway’s best-ever result.
A win against Ivory Coast would match that, and with the team fully in its ‘Golden Generation’ period, there’s hope they could make history with the perfect coach to do so.
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