From England it went to Besiktas Istanbul – as a goalkeeping coach. But the collaboration with coach Christoph Daum did not last long. What happened?
Salary has not been paid for a long time. After we won the championship, there should have been a €50,000 bonus. For some reason this hasn’t worked for months. Then there was an illness in the family. One of the goalkeepers brought me money that, as his goalkeeper coach, I should never have accepted. But I did. I didn’t see that as a problem either, because I was supposed to be getting money from the club anyway. But the story about the borrowed money got out faster than the one about the bonuses from the club. For me it was like a liberation.
What happened after that?
When the club said we were terminating the contract, I didn’t have to think for a second. Dealing with the employees, the irregularities in payment, the hip arthrosis and the associated, unimaginable pain every day – I just thought: the main thing is to get away now. I was really good as a goalkeeping coach. I was world class. I thought the world was open to me. But when I came back to Germany, all the doors in football closed.
Then came personal bankruptcy in 2008. This was followed by participation in the jungle camp, the recording of a single and a little later an album.
That was unimaginable. For me there (in the jungle camp, editor’s note) they were all idiots who were either unknown and wanted to become known or – like me – were in debt. When Calli (Rainer Callmund, editor’s note) called and suggested it to me, I said: “Do you still have all the cups in the cupboard?” But I got into it anyway. In the 14 days I made quite good money. Even with the single. I’m not a singer, but I was pain-free – if something came up, I was there.
Would you go back to the jungle camp again?
I would do it again today if it wasn’t on TV. This is a life experience that you are welcome to have to get out of everyday life.