Christoph Daum

Christoph Paul Daum (born 24 October 1953) is a German professional football manager and former player. Daum played as a midfielder and was a junior for several clubs from the region of Duisburg. He began his senior career with Hamborn 07 and Eintracht Duisburg, before joining 1. FC Köln in 1975 and being part of the reserve team that won the 1980–81 German amateur football championship. As a manager, he won eight trophies with clubs from Germany, Turkey and Austria. Coaching career Early years After finishing his career as a player, he earned his coaching licence at the DFB and began working in 1981 as amateur coach with 1. FC Köln. In the 1985–86, season he was promoted to assistant coach and in 1986 to the top position. During the 1990 FIFA World Cup, Daum was released from his position by Cologne's president Dietmar Artzinger-Bolten. In November 1990 he transferred to VfB Stuttgart, where he won the German championship in 1992. In the following season Daum committed a mistake in the first round of the European Cup against Leeds United on 30 September 1992 by illegally putting in a fourth foreign player. A replay was scheduled, which Leeds won. The UK newspaper 'The Sun' dubbed him 'Christoph Dumb' following this incident. The VfB missed out on the Champions League and Daum was released. Beginning in 1994 Daum worked with the Turkish club Beşiktaş J.K. in Istanbul. He won the Turkish Cup in 1994 and 1994–95 Turkish league championship title with Beşiktaş J.K. In the 1995–96 season he was sacked after losses to Kocaelispor and Vanspor. 1996–2000 Daum returned to Germany two years later to coach Bayer Leverkusen in 1996. He was very successful at Bayer Leverkusen, winning three second places in Bundesliga in four years of coaching. Following the UEFA Euro 2000, Daum was tipped to become manager of the German national team. The press reported rumours that Daum engaged in cocaine-fuelled orgies with prostitutes. Daum threatened the press and gave hair samples to the authorities to convince everybody about his innocence. The samples showed that he was a cocaine user but he told the press that the hairs were not his. However, one year later, facing the prospect of jail time, Daum admitted he had used cocaine. Meanwhile, his agreement to become national team manager was annulled by the German Football Association on 21 October 2000, and Rudi Völler, the then caretaker, was given the formal job.