Duckadam, Steaua’s penalty-killing goalkeeper, dies

Helmuth Duckadamgoalkeeper of Bucharest Steaua known as the ‘Hero of Seville’ after saving four penalties in the shootout Barça took against him in the 1986 European Cup final to hand the first continental champion title to a Romanian club, died on Monday at the age of 65, according to the agency Reuters collecting a statement from Steaua himself.

The myth taste was born on that day in May in 1986, in a final that brought 50,000 culé to the stands of the Sánchez Pizjuán in Seville and ended after the regulated 90 minutes and the subsequent overtime in a goalless tie. Although in Barça’s goal, Javier Urruti, who died in 2001, also saved the first two penalties of the shoot-out, taste He responded with a performance never seen before in a match of such high level and such historical impact. His miraculous work was postponed for the second time, after the final posts in 1961 against Benfica, the victory of the first European Cup for Barça, which came six years later at Wembley against Sampdoria. One of the consequences of that final, a bad memory for most veteran culé fans, was the origin of the problem between the great star. Bernd Schuster and the club, after his surreal replacement, ordered by Terry Venablesthe German midfielder angrily left the stadium in a taxi to the hotel while the match was still being played.

“This is a game of logic. After stopping the first punishment of AlexankoI put myself in the position of the taker and thought: ‘If the goalkeeper saved a penalty on the right, what would I do now?’ he told UEFA’s website a few years later.

“The goalkeeper usually moves to the left, so I went to the right. And that was best seen in the third penalty, when I was 100% sure that Pichi Alonso It will also point to the right…”, he explained on the same portal.

“When we returned home the next day, more than 15,000 people were waiting for us at Otopeni airport,” he recalled. tastewho later served as president of Steaua.

“When we left the airport, tens of thousands of people cheered us until we reached the stadium. It was an amazing atmosphere, something you only experience once in a lifetime, or never,” he added.

Despite his heroics, the biggest signing by a Romanian goalkeeper, taste He played only two games for his country’s team. In 1986 he was named Romanian Footballer of the Year and finished eighth in the Ballon d’Or rankings.

Amazingly, after that impressive performance at the age of 27, Duckadam abruptly ended his career shortly after the final due to a rare blood disorder, which forced him to take a three-year break before hanging up his gloves permanently in 1991. His club surrendered him honors this mournful December 2: “FCSB (Steaua Bucharest) expresses the regret of all the players and employees of the club for loss of the legendary Helmut Duckadam, who passed away today,” it said in a statement, sending its “condolences to the family.”