GLENN Hoddle says the dramatic end to England’s World Cup qualifiers against Italy in 1997 kick-started his heart problems.
As manager he led the Three Lions to the 0-0 draw in Rome which secured their place in the finals in France 98 — but they nearly missed out in the final seconds.
Moments after England striker Ian Wright hit the post, Italy’s Christian Vieri flashed a header inches past the upright.
Hoddle, 67, who went into cardiac arrest on a BT Sport show in October 2018, thought it was a certain goal.
He told a football podcast he felt like his “heart jumped out of his body”, went boom and he came out in what he called the “biggest sweat”.
Hoddle said: “If I’m behind it, I can see it’s going wide, but David Seaman just stopped. He just stood there. This ball, it flies by the net and it goes out.
He said his heart went “boom” and he came out in the “biggest sweat”, adding: “To this day that is the moment where I think I had a heart problem and I didn’t know anything about it.
“Then they found out I had AF which is an aerial fibrillation and I think it stemmed from that moment.
Former England defender Gary Neville, who also appeared on the podcast, joked that Wright’s miss was “attempted murder” because it led to Hoddle’s heart attack.
Wright laughed before saying: “It’s not my fault”.
Hoddle added: “Boom, it went out and I remember going down the tunnel cos we’re all elated because we’re going to the World Cup and thinking to myself ‘Do I say something to the doctor? And to be honest I just went ‘Nah, C’mon, we’re celebrating, we’re going to the World Cup’.
“Looking back I think that was the lead into my fibrillation and maybe whatever happened to me six years ago. It is stressful that technical bench.”
Hoddle collapsed on his 61st birthday while working as a pundit for BT Sport.
Luckily sound engineer Simon Daniels had recently completed a first aid course and jumped into action, breaking seven of the legend’s ribs as he performed CPR.
His actions kept him alive for long enough for Hoddle to be rushed to hospital for open heart surgery at St Bart’s hospital in London.
Simon later said: “I could tell Glenn was seriously unwell. Just being able to do CPR and do it quickly, you give someone that chance of making it.”
Hoddle joked that Simon’s actions had given him “extra time”, but didn’t want to go to penalties.
In May, Hoddle launched a campaign by the British Heart Foundation and Sky Bet which is aiming to encourage more than a quarter of a million people to learn CPR.
More than 30,000 people suffer heart attacks outside of hospital every year, with fewer than one in ten surviving.
