The Football Coach Who Returned From Dead and Rebuilt Norway
Stale Solbakken 'died' for seven minutes in 2001. Today, his team is preparing to become the first FIFA World Cup side from Norway to enter the semi-finals
- Stale Solbakken was clinically dead for seven minutes after a heart attack in 2001
- He recovered without brain damage but his playing career ended due to a heart defect
- Solbakken transitioned to coaching, starting with Norway's under-18 and HamKam teams
Stale Solbakken 'died' for seven minutes in 2001. Today, his team is preparing to become the first FIFA World Cup side from Norway to enter the semi-finals. This is the story of a football coach who plays 'chess' on the field. It is a much-told story, but every time it seems as marvellous as before. Back in 2001, Stale Solbakken was a midfielder for FC Copenhagen in Denmark. On March 13 that year, his life changed forever. Solbakken's heart stopped beating. For seven minutes, he was 'clinically dead' after suffering a heart attack. Team doctor Frank Odgaard revived him and saved his life.
Solbakken later recalled the experience on the Drivkraft podcast. "I remember seeing a blue light and then a tunnel. I remember thinking that I would like to stay there a little longer," he said.
Solbakken remained unconscious for 26 hours and was placed on life support in a hospital. As his family came to know about the incident, Solbakken told La Gazzetta dello Sport that his mother was thinking about how to organise his funeral on her way to the hospital.
"My parents flew to Denmark straight away. I was told that on the plane my mum started planning my funeral. At first they worried whether I would survive, then whether my brain would be damaged. Those were the thoughts that tormented my family and team-mates, who witnessed me collapsing, dying and being brought back to life," tribuna.com quoted him as saying.
He was placed in a medically induced coma to protect his brain. Though he recovered without neurological damage, his playing career was over. It was discovered that Solbakken had been born with a heart defect.
"Something like that definitely changes some things," Solbakken said later. "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."
He almost immediately pivoted to coaching. He started working with Norway's under-18 team and then with HamKam, whom he guided to a fifth-place finish in the top flight.
His former club, Copenhagen, took note of his success. Later, he won the Danish league title in his first year with the team. In the Champions League, his side beat Manchester United and Ajax. He even worked in Germany with FC Koln.
Later, Solbakken was hired by Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2012 after the club had been relegated following a three-season stint in the Premier League. His tenure, based on a counter-attacking style, was unsuccessful. He returned to FC Copenhagen for a second spell that lasted seven years. Finally, he took over as Norway coach in 2020.
The team failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024. Solbakken then stated that he would resign if Norway did not reach the 2026 World Cup. Today, he is living his dream.
Norway