Italy’s Giancarlo Antognoni ‘died’ for 30 seconds in November 1981 during a Serie A match pitting Fiorentina and Genoa, ahead of the 1982 World Cup. Following a ghastly collission with Genoa’s goalkeeper Silvano Martina, Antognoni’s heart stopped beating for seconds.
A flying knee from Martina accidentally smashed into the Fiorentina No10’s face. Genoa captain Claudio Onofri screamed, “he’s dead, he’s dead”, but the untwisting of his tongue and mouth-to-mouth resuscitated Antognoni’s pulse.
Despite fracturing his skull in two places, the midfielder miraculously recovered and provided three assists in six appearances at Spain 1982 – a figure surpassed only by Zico and Pierre Littbarski.