He brought Stuttgart one of the five titles in the club's history, created the great Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the last millennium, but was also a member of the malevolent "pharmacists", went through cocaine scandals, made illegal changes...
Kristof Daum, a big coaching name, but also an unusual football personality, is no longer with us - the German expert died at the age of 71 after a long battle with cancer.
His family said he died on Saturday - peacefully surrounded by his loved ones, reports Reuters.
After being diagnosed with cancer in 2022, Daum initially withdrew from public life, but soon returned.
"The tumor chose the wrong body," Daum said in interviews, using his fighting spirit to inspire others.
He started his coaching career in Cologne in 1986, before taking over Stuttgart in 1990 and becoming the champion of Germany with him two years later.
How unusual stories followed him, soon after the great success, a shock followed in the 1st round of the Champions Cup (League) against Leeds. "Schwabe" won the first match 3:0, they lost the second leg 4:1, but they celebrated their progress due to the away goal rule...
Nevertheless, the Yugoslav defender Jovo Simanić he made only one appearance for the German club's first team, he played only eight minutes, but even that was enough to knock Stuttgart out of the Champions League, as Daum forgot that only four foreigners were allowed on the field in those years.
"Christoph Dumb", was the merciless English media back then, and it's easy to translate the play on words with his last name.ž
After that, a repeat match was played in Barcelona, Leeds went on to win, and Daum was fired.
He went to Beşiktaş and won the title, then returned to Germany and took over Bayer Leverkusen. With the "pharmacists", he was vice-champion of the Bundesliga three times (1997, 1999 and 2000), and the last second place is especially memorable.
Bayern needed a point against Unterhaching in the last round to be champions, but the club from Leverkusen was unexpectedly defeated in the Bavarian town, so the title went to Bayern. The legend about the then "Neverkusen" started...
That year, he was already seen at the position of coach of Germany, when it emerged that he had taken cocaine. Faced with the possibility of prison, he confessed to everything, and the German Football Association promoted him Rudi Feller for the new selector.
He "escaped" again to his Beşiktaş, and he also managed Austria from Vienna, Fenerbahçe, Club Brugge, the Romanian national team... There were still successes, but his coaching star was slowly fading...
He often described the exciting life with the words: You can fall - it doesn't even matter how often. But it's always just important to keep getting up.
Bonus video:
