Sunday 23 May 2021
Cologne’s unlikely hero
The gateway to happiness follows tumor and coma
After a season with a few ups and downs, 1. FC Köln got an additional chance to stay in relegation. This additional chance was secured by someone who lived through particularly bad weeks. And not on the field.
It was just the jump into relegation and not yet the salvation, but it felt like a happy ending. Because it was Sebastiaan Bornauw, who gave 1. FC Köln four minutes before the end with 1-0 (0-0) against relegated FC Schalke 04 the additional chance of the playoffs, gave the “roller coaster ride of emotions” (goalkeeper Timo Horn) a very special note.
Bornauw was a shooting star in the preseason. With six goals, he was the second most dangerous central defender in the Bundesliga, and in Belgium, which was number one in the world, he was promoted to national team player. But at the beginning of this year, the 22-year-old experienced bad weeks, which he reported movingly in the club documentary “24/7 FC”.
His constant back pain turned out to be a benign tumor on the spine. On the first attempt at the operation, an allergic reaction to the anesthesia set in. “The doctors had to put me into an artificial coma for 24 hours. 20 years ago I would have died 90 percent of the time,” said Bornauw: “The doctors told me my body temperature rose by one degree per minute. If it wasn’t within a few minutes had reacted, I would have exploded. “
Bornauw, who was looked after by the former Bayern star Daniel van Buyten, who many call “Tarzan” because of his stature and wild blond hair, recovered both physically and mentally. At first he was happy “that I can sit on the sofa without pain”, then he fought his way back to his regular place and became an important stabilizer in the relegation battle. Now he has become a hero with his first goal of the season.
Not a punishment, but an opportunity
After the hit Bornauw cheered exuberantly. After the final whistle, he first made sure that the game of rival Bremen was over, then he fell into the arms of keeper Horn with relief. “I’m very happy,” he said in one of his few interviews in German. After Cologne had run wild for 85 minutes, desperate against Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann and also lost a goal via video evidence, veteran coach Friedhelm Funkel remembered that Bornauw was once a striker in his youth. “I ordered him to the front and told him it was time to score his first goal of the season,” said the 67-year-old with a laugh.
Ultimately, the most important decision was made by Bornauw himself. “I have often hit the first post in vain,” he said. “So I thought: Why don’t you run for the second time.” This is exactly where Jan Thielmann’s flank came. And so the Cologne team will play in the relegation on Wednesday and Saturday. And even if captain Jonas Hector didn’t know exactly “how to deal with the emotional situation”, it was somehow clear to everyone: FC didn’t have to go into relegation. He is allowed to. “We should see this as an opportunity,” said sports director Horst Heldt, about whose possible replacement, at least in the case of relegation, there are undisputed rumors. “I’m relieved that we have this chance,” he said.
Funkel gave the players a day off “so that they can have a nice Sunday with their families, wives and friends”. From Monday the full concentration of the relegation applies. In which the FC goes as a clear favorite. “We are the Bundesliga team,” Heldt made clear. And Sky expert Dietmar Hamann made a commitment: “You showed a different face under the twinkle. A lot would have to happen that you still get down.”
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