In 2015, the press visited Elisabeta Duckadam at her home, in Semlac, Arad, a commune located 27 kilometers from Arad and 9 kilometers from the border with Hungary.
Elisabeta Duckadam PHOTO Liberty
Elisabeta Duckadam is 85 years old and lives in Semlac, the local authorities confirmed today, on the day of Helmut’s death.
“Helmut played football as a child. At 14, he left home to play in Arad. He commuted by train. He also played barefoot, when his shoes broke. His father (No. – whom Elisabeta divorced, in the meantime, and remarried), he was also a goalkeeper, so the choice to stay in the goal was an easy one. I didn’t have much financial means. I worked at Colectiv (No. – CAP), we kept pigs, we sold them to make money, and only in autumn and spring, at Easter, we bought shoes for the children“, declared Elisabeta for “Libertatea”.
His daughter, settled in the USA
The car ARO received as a prize for winning the European Champions Cup and gave it to a villager, for a work done on the house: “As money, 3,000 lei was taken, as it were. It hurt me that he had to sell the Sevilla gloves for money. Life also takes you in such situations“, said the mother of the champion.
The mother of the champion particularly appreciated Miodrag Belodedici and had a nail against Mircea Lucescu (Duckadam ended his career with only two national selections).
Duckadam has a family across the Ocean too. Helmut’s daughter from his first marriage, Brigitte Duckadam-Teglasi, lives in the USA, where the former goalkeeper tried his luck. He left with the Visa Lottery, but he didn’t last long.
