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He was a somewhat different football coach: Christoph Daum in 2009 in Cologne. © dpa
The great football coach and great football philosopher Christoph Daum has died; he faced his cancer with courage.
Christoph Daum’s hair was back. He was present, wrote columns, appeared on talk shows and gave the impression that he could actually get back to work as a coach. But he was also willing to communicate numbers: the number of chemo treatments. They continued, and at one point there were over 30. That reminded people that he was very ill. Lung cancer – which surprised him, even though he was a smoker and not someone with a healthy lifestyle. In the documentary “Triumphs & Tragedies” he traced it back to a heated phase in his career a good 30 years ago. Now Christoph Daum has died, as his family announced on Sunday morning. He was one of the most colourful figures in German football; he was 70 years old.
So much comes to mind when you hear the name Daum. First of all – and you have to be honest about this even when you pause to write an obituary – it is the madness that he caused and that he let himself be driven into because he believed that football should also be entertainment. As a young coach of 1. FC Cologne, he – not to forget: encouraged by his sports director Udo Lattek – lashed out at his honest Munich colleague Jupp Heynckes, who no longer knew how to defend himself against the young nerd’s unprovoked ad hominem attacks; Uli Hoeneß then took over.
His hostility towards Christoph Daum reached its peak in 2000: Hoeneß knew at least by hearsay that Daum occasionally took cocaine, he made a strong public suggestion, and the argument escalated into an him-or-me showdown. Daum was under no pressure to prove his cleanliness – but in his hubris he gave a hair sample for forensic examination. The fact that this contained traces of the drug saved Hoeneß – and cost Daum the already promised position of national coach, which Rudi Völler filled on an interim basis. Daum left Leverkusen almost under cover of darkness, and the chase recorded by “Bild” reporter Vim Vomland, Daum’s loyal mouthpiece until then, was legendary. They went to the USA, to Florida. A football coach goes into hiding – crazy.
None of this would have happened if Christoph Daum had not been a highly relevant coach. He brought 1. FC Cologne closer to Bayern, won the championship with VfB Stuttgart in 1993, and rose to fame with Bayer Leverkusen. He could lead a team on both a tactical and psychological level. Anyone who hired him got more than just a trainer, but also a front man and ambassador. At Fenerbahce Istanbul he won over the Turkish fans, and in Cologne he was a big name anyway. He was even asked to bless children.
The craziness subsided with age. Daum kept a record of his life for a book, from which he then had to cut two thirds, and he reconciled with his great rival Uli Hoeneß, who gave Daum credit for keeping quiet when the whole world mocked and despised him because of his tax case and prison sentence. And then Marcel Daum, Christoph’s son, recently became German champion as assistant coach with Bayer Leverkusen. And somehow everything was fine.
Maybe everything would have turned out well 13 years ago. Maybe Christoph Daum would have been celebrated as a great savior in Frankfurt in May 2011. Back then, in a time long gone, he was brought to Eintracht Frankfurt by board member Heribert Bruchhagen as Michael Skibbe’s successor. Two Bundesliga veterans wanted to avoid the looming fourth relegation in 15 years. And if striker Theofanis Gekas hadn’t missed from three meters (!) in the 82nd minute when the score was 1-0 against FC Bayern in April 2011 and Bayern had been able to equalize shortly afterwards – Eintracht might have had the tailwind it needed to avoid relegation. And the story would have been told completely differently.
Instead, Daum failed to win a single game in seven matches and had three draws. Armin Veh replaced the failed savior, who had caused a historic moment when he was introduced in the overcrowded press room of the Waldstadion in his light gray tailored suit. His bold statement “If the head works properly, then it is the third leg” is one of the most important pieces of football wisdom of our time. The fact that it is difficult to run with three legs was initially ignored in the widespread enthusiasm over the Daum signing. Hessischer Rundfunk broadcast the first training session under Daum live on television in front of thousands of fans. Bruchhagen hoped that the “spirit of optimism would radiate to the team and the club”. But the Daum hype did not translate to the pitch.
The then 57-year-old had announced in his usual bold manner that he would be working for Eintracht “25 hours a day” from now on. In fact, he was an enormously hard worker, but he still coached Frankfurt from 14th place to 17th place, where they were relegated. Only FC St. Pauli was worse. “I’ve become a little smarter in that time, but I haven’t failed,” said Daum as he left. A typical Daum sentence. He bore his illness with particular bravery.
