Helmut Robert Duckadam (; born 1 April 1959) is a Romanian retired
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...
who played as a
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...
.
He was dubbed "the Hero of Seville" due to his performance in the
1986 European Cup Final
The 1986 European Cup Final was a football match held at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, Seville, on 7 May 1986 that saw Steaua București of Romania defeat Barcelona of Spain in a penalty shoot out after 120 minutes of play could not separ ...
, won by his club
Steaua București, where he saved all four penalties against Barcelona in the penalty shootout, for the first time in football history. He represented three other teams in a 14-year senior career.
Duckadam regularly appears as a studio guest on
Digi Sport's "Fotbal Club" programme.
Career
Born in
Semlac
Semlac ( hu, Szemlak) is a commune located in Arad County, in the western part of Romania, near the border with Hungary, is situated in the south-western part of the Arad Plateau, in the large valley of the Mureș River. Its territory occupies . I ...
,
Arad County
Arad County () is an administrative division ( judeţ) of Romania roughly translated into county in the western part of the country on the border with Hungary, mostly in the region of Crișana and few villages in Banat. The administrative cente ...
of
Banat Swabian
The Banat Swabians are an ethnic German population in the former Kingdom of Hungary in Central-Southeast Europe, part of the Danube Swabians. They emigrated in the 18th century to what was then the Austrian Empire's Banat of Temeswar province, l ...
(
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
) descent, Duckadam started playing in his regional leagues, before moving to
FC UTA Arad in 1978 to become professional. He earned two full
caps
Caps are flat headgear.
Caps or CAPS may also refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters
* Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...
for
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
in 1982 and, subsequently, was signed by country giants
Steaua București.
Duckadam, who was instrumental in helping the
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
side to two consecutive
Liga I
The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...
titles, was also between the posts for the
1986 European Cup Final
The 1986 European Cup Final was a football match held at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, Seville, on 7 May 1986 that saw Steaua București of Romania defeat Barcelona of Spain in a penalty shoot out after 120 minutes of play could not separ ...
against
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football.
Found ...
, which was played in
Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Penins ...
, on 7 May 1986. He saved four consecutive penalty shots in the
shootout
A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...
, from
José Ramón Alexanko
José Ramón Alexanko Ventosa (; born 19 May 1956) is a Spanish retired footballer and manager, who later served as director of football of Valencia CF.
During his career the central defender played with success for both Athletic Bilbao and Ba ...
,
Ángel Pedraza
Ángel Pedraza Lamilla (4 October 1962 – 8 January 2011) was a Spanish professional footballer who played as a full back and a central midfielder.
Playing career
Born in La Rinconada, Seville, Andalusia, Pedraza joined FC Barcelona's youth ...
,
Pichi Alonso and
Marcos Marcos may refer to:
People with the given name ''Marcos''
*Marcos (given name)
Sports
;Surnamed
* Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century)
* Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer
* Nélson Marcos, Portug ...
, being the first one to do so in an official European competition. Steaua won the shootout 2–0 and Europe's most important club trophy for the first time, and much of the credit for the surprise victory was given to him; he scored one goal for his main club, through a
penalty kick
A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...
against
AFC Progresul București
AFC may stand for:
Organizations
* Action for Children, a UK children's charity
* AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits
* Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution
* A ...
in the
domestic cup. Duckadam was nominated for the
Ballon d'Or
The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine '' France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (f ...
in 1986.
In 1986, Duckadam suffered a rare blood disorder only few weeks after the Seville performance, and would only resume his career three years later, finishing it with lowly
Vagonul Arad in the
second division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
. According to a personal interview given in 1999, he had become a major with the
Romanian Border Police
The Romanian Border Police ( ro, Poliția de Frontieră) is the structure of the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs responsible for the border security and passport control at border crossing points, airports and ports.
Structure
Since 2001 ...
(''Poliția de Frontieră'') in his hometown; additionally, he opened a football school in the city, named after himself.
On 25 March 2008, Duckadam was decorated by the
President of Romania
The president of Romania ( ro, Președintele României) is the head of state of Romania. Following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, the president is directly elected by a two-round system and serves for five years. An indi ...
,
Traian Băsescu
Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a conservative Romanian politician who served as President of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian Minister of Transport on multiple occasions between 1991 ...
, with ''Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv"'' – ("The Sportive Merit" Order – class II), for his part in winning the 1986 European Cup. Two years later, on 11 August, he was named honorary president at
FCSB
Fotbal Club FCSB (), commonly known as FCSB, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the top flight of the Romanian league system, the Liga I.
The original ''Steaua București'' footbal ...
. He left the club in 2020.
Honours
Steaua București
*
Divizia A
The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...
:
1984–85,
1985–86
*
Cupa României
The Cupa României ( en, Romanian Cup) is a football cup competition for Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the country's main cup competition, being open to all clubs affiliated with ...
:
1984–85
*
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
:
1985–86
Individual
*
Romanian Footballer of the Year
The Romanian Footballer of the Year ( ro, Fotbalistul român al anului), also known as the Nicolae Dobrin Trophy ( ro, Trofeul Nicolae Dobrin), is an annual association football award given by the ''Gazeta Sporturilor'' newspaper to the Romania ...
: 1986
*
Ballon d'Or
The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine '' France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (f ...
:
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal en ...
(8th place)
[
]
References
External links
*
*
Romania stats at Eu-Football
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duckadam, Helmut
1959 births
Living people
People from Arad County
Romanian people of German descent
Romanian footballers
Association football goalkeepers
Romania international footballers
Romania under-21 international footballers
Liga I players
Liga II players
FC UTA Arad players
FC Steaua București players
Vagonul Arad players
FC Steaua București presidents