The second day of play in the Berlin league. Thomas Häßler, coach of BFC Preussen, has to break off the speech before the duel at Hilalspor. memory loss. There is an awkward silence in the cabin. On Tuesday it became public that the soccer world champion of 1990 can no longer do his job. For now at least. “I remember it well. All of a sudden my thoughts were gone. I didn’t know what I wanted to tell the team before,” the 56-year-old told BILD about August 17. It was the second dropout, on July 20th there is said to have been a similar incident in a test match.
The diagnosis? Still unclear. Hässler was “once turned upside down” by the doctors to find out what he had, said Prussia’s sports director Pierre Seiffert. The club has already reacted to the illness. Daniel Volbert will look after the team until further notice. “I spoke to Thomas for a long time and we looked for a solution together,” said Seiffert: “We’re not dismissing him. Thomas will always be a Prussian and I hope he comes back to us soon.”
Hässler himself reports in the BILD interview that the many calls and wishes for recovery are “overwhelming”, which gives him “a lot of strength”. He told the newspaper that almost all of the players who were at his side when he won the title in Italy in 1990 had contacted him. Protagonists such as Rudi Völler, Andreas Brehme or Pierre Littbarski. He called him on Tuesday. “Icke is my little half-brother,” said Littbarski, “he sounded completely normal on the phone. He had told me that he had tinnitus and therefore balance problems. That’s why he can’t do his coaching job at the moment. But he had a very positive effect on me.”
This Thursday, the medical marathon continues for Hässler, an appointment with the ENT specialist because of the tinnitus. “I’m not terminally ill,” says Hässler, “but unfortunately the causes are still unclear. I’ve talked to a lot of people, and the word burnout was also mentioned when there were very similar symptoms. I’m curious to see what the evaluations will reveal next week.”
Hässler was asked whether he was afraid. No, he replied: “I’ll fight and I’ll make it. Everything will be fine. I want to get this done and get back on the sidelines as soon as possible. i love soccer The fact that my club gives me as much time as I need is also unique.”