On the morning of May 7, 1986, he was a largely unknown goalkeeper. His team, Steaua Bucharest, was preparing to play in the final of the Champions Cup – now the Champions League – against Barcelona, but his name, Helmut Ducandam, was only known in Ceausescu’s Romania. In the evening of the same day, the whole football world learned about him.
No one had saved four penalties in a row in a European final before. And no one has repeated this feat until today, when Dukedam is no longer alive. He “died” on Monday 2/12 at the age of 65.
He will go down in history as the shooting star of the parks. The goddess Fortune gave a rare moment of glory to the tall goalkeeper (1.93) – he signed one of the biggest surprises in the annals of football – but instantly afterwards she turned her back on him. That final was to be the last major game of his career. Complete happiness was succeeded by tragedy.
One morning, while enjoying his summer vacation at a Black Sea resort, he woke up with a sharp pain in his right arm. It was July 12, 1986. He was taken to hospital, where he was diagnosed with thrombosis. He underwent surgery,he was spared amputation,but his career at the highest level was over at the age of 27,at a time when Europe’s top clubs were negotiating with Steaua to sign him. Dukandam, that year’s candidate for the “Ball d’Or” and “footballer of the year” in the relevant French Football vote, did not have time to redeem his trick.
In December he followed Steaua, the first team from the former Eastern bloc to win European Champions thanks to him, to Tokyo for the Intercontinental Cup final (against South American champions River Plate). He would not be able to compete – the doctors warned him that it would be too dangerous for his health – but he would be the one to bring the japanese to the field. No one knew what happened to him.He was photographed doing a few jumps, falling to the ground, always with his left hand, giving interviews and signing autographs. then he disappeared from the face of the Earth.
Ducandam’s mysterious “disappearance” gave rise to a myth – that he fell victim to the dictatorial regime -, which made him even more popular in Romania.There were rumours, after the desperate defeat to Barcelona,
What were the key moments in helmut Ducandam’s football career before his disappearance?
On the morning of May 7, 1986, he was a largely unknown goalkeeper. His team, Steaua Bucharest, was preparing to play in the final of the champions Cup – now the Champions League – against Barcelona, but his name, Helmut ducandam, was onyl known in ceausescu’s Romania. By the evening of that day, the entire football world learned about him.
No one had saved four penalties in a row in a European final before, and no one has repeated this feat until today, after Ducandam has passed away. He “died” on monday, December 2, at the age of 65.
He will go down in history as the shooting star of the parks. Fortune gave a rare moment of glory to the tall goalkeeper (1.93m) – he achieved one of the biggest surprises in the annals of football – but just after that, misfortune struck. That final was to be the last major game of his career. Complete happiness was succeeded by tragedy.
One morning, while enjoying his summer vacation at a Black Sea resort, he woke up with a sharp pain in his right arm on July 12, 1986. He was taken to the hospital,where he was diagnosed with thrombosis. He underwent surgery; he was spared amputation, but his career at the highest level was over at the age of 27, right when Europe’s top clubs were negotiating with Steaua to sign him. Ducandam was that year’s candidate for the “Ballon d’Or” and “Footballer of the Year” in the relevant French Football vote, but he did not have time to redeem his fame.
In December, he followed Steaua – the first team from the former Eastern bloc to win the European Champions Cup thanks to him – to Tokyo for the Intercontinental Cup final against South American champions River Plate. He would not be able to compete – the doctors warned him that it would be too risky for his health – but he would be there to bring the Japanese to the field. No one knew what happened to him after that. He was photographed making a few jumps, falling to the ground, always landing on his left hand, giving interviews and signing autographs. Then he disappeared from the face of the Earth.
Ducandam’s mysterious disappearance gave rise to a myth – that he fell victim to the dictatorial regime – which made him even more popular in Romania. There were rumors that after the desperate defeat to Barcelona,he had become embroiled in dangerous political circumstances due to his brief fame.Despite the end of his career and the sadness that followed, the legend of Helmut Ducandam remained a poignant story in the landscape of Romanian football.