Fernando Carro, CEO of Bayer 04, said: “Reiner Calmund represents the progression of success for this club; you cannot believe the history of Bayer 04 without him. The four-time Champions League finalist and finalist in 2002 took his place time. in the club. That says it all. In addition to your professional experience, I really appreciate our normal and private communication. Congratulations, dear Calli!”
Simon Rolfes, sporting director of Bayer 04, said on the anniversary: “When I arrived at Leverkusen as a player in 2005, Calli had left the year before. I’ve never worked with him, but everyone raves about him. During his many years as a player, coach and director, he incredibly helped build the profile of Bayer 04, especially in South America, most notably through the signings of big foreign names. We continue to communicate regularly by phone and it is attractive to communicate with Calli. “I wish him all the best on his birthday. “
The guy is still on fire. Always omnipresent. Last week he appeared on two major TV shows. First as a member of the jury of the show “Grill den Henssler” on VOX, a few days later as a clever saboteur of Gerguy’s VIP special “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”. ? Calli raised €64,000 for a clever cause as part of RTL’s marathon donation for “Wir helfen Kindern” (We Help Children). He explains his involvement in his style of article: “People who are doing better things in this world have to think about those, especially young people, who are not doing very well. Anyone who doesn’t realize this deserves to see a doctor for their opinion. Open the skull to see if all the wheels are turning properly. ” Of course, it’s better to come straight from Calli than to read it.
He gave some recommendations last Sunday in his televised appearance on Sport1’s “Doppelpass” program. And here Calmund showed, as always, that he is absolutely thorough when it comes to football. With emotion and expansive gestures, he analyzed Gerguyy’s 3. -2 loss to Turkey as one of the experts. It bothered him that one or two hadn’t received his alarm signal. He bristled and grumbled in attack mode. But most of all, he had a mischievous smile on his face. That’s who he is, that’s why he’s loved. You can’t blame this guy for anything.
Sports journalist Karlheinz Wagner once described him as an “ingenious virtuoso of verbal imagery. “Calmund was truly virtuoso and resourceful from an early age. Born in Brühl in 1948, he grew up in Frechen, the lignite region around Cologne, and the “cunning “A guy with a mouth as big as the region’s bulldozers” (as described in his autobiography “fußballbekloppt!”) He grew up to be a young man who from a young age had a lot of irons in the fireplace. altar boy and accordionist. He trained in wholesale and foreign trade, sold chairs and sofas, and worked as a freelance editor for local sports, not only writing for the Kölnische Rundschau, but also delivering the newspaper. He finished his national service and studied commerce through adult education. In short: Calli was running at full throttle at the age of 20. If there was one thing that encouraged him to organize, it was that he was passionate, “like a burning torch. “
I couldn’t do without football. When the German Football Association (DFB) presented a training to become an organizational leader of the DFB, Calmund jumped at the opportunity. His career as a midfielder for SpVgg Frechen 20 ended prematurely with an ankle injury in his left foot. But that didn’t matter as he would never have been a professional footballer. Calli then became coach of his club’s under-17 team and also coach of the district’s under-15 youth team. In the Cologne area, it was temporarily made known to each and every one of the fields, to each and every and to each and to each player, to each and every and to each and to each and to each of the presidents and to each and every one and to each and every one of the coaches.
Leverkusen’s bankruptcy began for Calli on a rainy day in November 1976, when he met Willibert Kremer in a match played at the association’s sports school in Hennef. Kremer, then coach of the second reserve club Bayer 04, took on the task as a Calmund Bee at Bayer Cross. “I needed someone who could make things work in all sectors, but especially in the youth sector,” recalls Calli, whose principal task at that time was in the workforce of Bayer AG. work, he was in charge of preparing everything for the Bayer 04 U19 “from the balls to the pennants, from the shirts to the shoes. ” to cry, a punching bag and a motivator, a tactical fox and a clown. “
When the club was promoted to the Bundesliga in 1979, Calmund was officially vice-president of the football segment of TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, pursuing the youth segment and youth development, took charge of the reserve team and created an exploration segment that was soon regarded as one of the most productive in Germany. Reiner Calmund has long done what the Tik-Tok generation is crying out for today: a great hitter!”We wanted to get to the Bundesliga, and we did. Even if it was hand-in-hand,” Calmund said as he reflected on his early years on the most sensible flight.
His fast-track life had begun now. Always on the edge and rarely on the verge of physical collapse. Almost relegated (1982, 1996, 2003), two trophies (UEFA Cup in 1988 and DFB Cup in 1993) and several finalists (also many to list here): the sentimental and epicurean Calmund has noticed all the ups and downs. At the club with intensity and suffered like no one else. There was an emotional roller coaster with multiple loops.
How close he came to success, but more importantly, failure, was written on his face. A pale white ball of nerves in the relegation battle, a crying ball of anguish after spoiling the league’s name in 2002, suffered with the fans. By dressing with her center on her sleeve, she also showed her feelings with her whole body. There may simply not be a greater identity with your employer. Employer? Completely wrong word. No, Bayer 04 has been the content of Calmund’s life for almost 30 years. He helped shape the club like no one else between 1976 and 2004. Thanks to his unerring intuition to locate the right people in the right place, he managed to strip the club of the undisputed symbol of Jane, which remained almost until the mid-1990s. Under his leadership, the Red & Blacks have a leading club in Germany and abroad.
Calmund brought to Cross players like Rüdiger Vollborn, Jorginho, Andreas Thom, Ulf Kirsten, Bernd Schuster, Rudi Völler, Emerson, Michael Ballack, Bernd Schneider, Lucio, Dimitar Berbatov and many others who arrived as stars. “I think his good luck is basically because of his intellectual speed compared to the competition,” Jorginho, Bayer’s second Brazilian after Tita, once said about Calmund. The director had a similar opinion. One of his favorite sayings, which he repeated like a mantra: “The great do not consume the small, but the fast consume the slow. “
Sometimes, as he admitted in his autobiography, he set a speed that he could hardly reach on his own. The Bayer 04 has definitely benefited from its wonderful speed and endurance. Calmund brought in coaches such as Dragoslav Stepanovic, Christoph Daum and Klaus Toppmöller. And he also managed to sign many club legends such as Jürgen Gelsdorf, Peter Hermann, Norbert Ziegler, Thomas Hörster and Rüdiger Vollborn at Bayer 04 on a long-term basis. And Rudi Völler took his first steps with Calmund in his second career as sporting director. and then sporting director.
As shrewd and cunning, as ambitious and cunning as he was as Guyager and director. Despite his quest for the greatest sporting success imaginable, Calmund was never just a wonderful boss, an XXL Guyager, but also a smart friend and mentor. companion, confidant, counselor. Someone you can cry your heart out with. And he was someone who at all times supported you with his great delight when things went wrong. Yes, it may anger you internally, but he never showed it publicly. At half-time, he angrily walked into the dressing room, said what he thought if necessary, and used selection words if he wanted to be perfectly clear. He once broke a toe while throwing a briefcase full of rage in front of the entire team. The guy may simply be a “Pottsau” (mouth of marijuana), as Calmund once described himself.
Even Ulf Kirsten, whom Calmund described as his “purchase of the century,” felt it. “The ‘Schwatte’ once again showed his reputation as a complainer in an educational field in the U. S. Calmund flew away. His disciplinary moves resulted in Kirsten “one of the worst days of my life. “The striker, who had a strong fear of flying, was unable to return to Germany with the team, but had to make a ten-hour flight on a general airline. A horror show,” Kirsten recalls, “to survive, “with a bottle of red wine and 3 or 4 glasses of beer. “But he also forgave his tormentor some time after his return “because of his strong affection. “Calmund seldom played the role of a violent madman for long. Above all, he regained the upper hand thanks to his kindness and helping syndrome.
Calli gave her blouse to her classmates. And the enthusiasts knew that for him everything was in smart hands. His word is his bond. Today, he still has a great fondness for black and red enthusiasts. Need an example? When he invited a Bayer fan to Leverkusen earlier this year to celebrate his 60th birthday, Calmund attended the small party without hesitation. And occasions like this, away from the spotlight, are vital for him. A matter of honor.
It’s been almost 20 years since he stopped racing at Bayer 04. Of course, it hasn’t slowed down at all. The Reiner Calmund logo has been expanding its portfolio especially over the past two decades. He was the big boss of the RTL reality show of the same name, ambassador of the World Cup and the European Championship, columnist, advisor and author, protagonist of the award-winning documentary “Calli do Brasil”, welcome guest at debates, contests, infotainment and comedy presentations, sought after as a football expert on many television channels, speaker at meetings and corporate events, podcaster (Echter Champions XXL) and testimonial. The newspaper Die Welt once described him as a “pensioner with 13 jobs”. That’s pretty true. Not to mention his tireless commitment, especially to children. Calmund volunteers for various foundations and clubs.
Tireless, on the way to the next test, in the middle of the action. We say: “Hösch” and Reiner Calmund, that’s not going to happen together in the long run either. And rightly so.
With that in mind: Happy Birthday, Calli, you’re the best!
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