Hero at Steaua, for whom he single-handedly won the CCE final with Barcelona in 1986, Helmut Duckadam, who died yesterday at the age of 65, was ignored at the national team, where he collected only two selections. This was the destiny of the goalkeeper who left Arad to conquer Europe.
Duckadam and Ceaușescu, over a glass of champagne
In the first national team, Helmut was selected only twice, both times in 1982, while he was registered at UTA. This although, in the period 1982-1986, the goalkeeper played successfully for Steaua, and in 1985 he succeeded in the event in Ghencea.
“Il Luce” blames Helmut
At the same time, between 1981-1986, the reins of the national team were held by the current coach, Mircea Lucescu. He left out Helmut, even though he was on a roll.
At Euro 1984, when Helmut had not “exploded”, the selector took Silviu Lung (Universitatea Craiova), Dumitru Moraru (Dinamo) and Vasile Iordache (Steaua) to the final tournament.
Mircea Lucescu, present yesterday in Iași, where he became an honorary citizen of the city, boasted that he also had an eye for goalkeepers and that he was the one who summoned Duckadam to the national team, although he was playing at UTA, in Division B. All ” Il Luce” also said that the blame for not having imposed himself under the tricolor belonged exclusively to Helmut, who did not resist the pressure at that time.
“I had a grudge against Lucescu…”
Helmut’s mother has another version. He claims that his son was marginalized because he had “unhealthy” origins. That would have excluded him from the circuit of the first representative team, being discriminated against because of the fact that he was “German”. “Helmut suffered. If he wasn’t German, he might have been seen differently. For a long time it was kept in reserve. I had a grudge against Lucescu… He made a big difference in the national team with Helmut“, declared Elisabeta in 2015, for Libertatea. The woman is now 85 years old and lives in Semlac.
Duckadam played in 133 matches on the first stage and 11 times in European cups. He won a champion title and a Romanian Cup (1985), as well as the European Champions Cup (1986). He was named the best Romanian footballer of the year in 1986. He retired from football at the age of 27, due to vascular problems.
Another person who wronged Duckadam, although in the first phase he helped him, was Gigi Becali. The boss of FCSB hired Helmut as an image president, then did everything in his power to get rid of him, gradually reducing his salary and thus causing him to leave. However, Duckadam did not return his weapons: he did not “date” with the rival CSA Steaua, but always claimed that “FCSB is Steaua”.
