Former Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel was saved from swallowing his tongue by a Slovakia team-mate.
The 33-year-old was playing in an international friendly against Thailand on Sunday when, 27 minutes in, he was struck in the face by the ball and collapsed to the floor.
Quickly realising the severity of the situation, Ondrej Duda raced over and reached into Skrtel's mouth to keep his airways clear.
There was a lengthy break in play as Skrtel received treatment.
Incredibly, he returned to the field and lasted 72 minutes before being withdrawn.
Hero Duda, who had opened the scoring, went on to set up the winner as Slovakia clinched a 3-2 victory at the Rajamangala Stadium.