Many celebrities from the world of football and thousands of fans said goodbye to Christoph Daum. In the 1. FC Köln stadium, his former clubs 1. FC Köln, VfB Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen held the memorial service for the long-time coach, who died on August 24th at the age of 70 from the effects of a serious cancer illness. “His uniqueness opened hearts and doors. He was one of the most dazzling personalities in German football. We will not forget him,” said DFB President Bernd Neuendorf.
In addition to the DFB president, delegations from various clubs also came, as well as Daum’s friend, Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir, Reiner Calmund, Rudi Völler, VfB board member Alexander Wehrle, ex-manager Michael Meier and many of Daum’s former protégés. These included the ex-world champions Thomas Häßler and Pierre Littbarski.
Littbarski with emotional words
“I lost three people at once: my favorite coach, an extraordinary person and my friend Christoph. Thank you for letting me be in your life. I love you,” said a visibly moved Littbarski in his speech.
The memorial service with several speakers and live music, at which some private photos of Daum and his family were also shown, was deliberately held in the Cologne stadium, “where Christoph was at home, on the pitch, on the green grass,” according to the organizers. As a coach, he celebrated numerous successes with clubs such as FC, Stuttgart, Leverkusen, Fenerbahce as well as Besiktas Istanbul and Austria Vienna.
The father of four children was, among other things, German champion (1992 with Stuttgart), Turkish champion three times (1995, 2004, 2005), Turkish Cup winner (1994) and won the double in Austria (2003).
Daum was even under contract as head coach for Cologne twice, and the city became home to the Zwickau native. Not only did he celebrate many victories in the FC stadium, he also married his second wife Angelica in the center circle in 2007. On Thursday, a huge picture of him was laid there with the inscription “Mach et joot, Christoph.”
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240912-930-230913/1
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