Lieberknecht will probably be missing for a while
Darmstadt coach skips home game for sick wife
November 10, 2023, 5:12 p.m
There should be a connection to assistant coach Ovid Hajou and the team, but Torsten Lieberknecht’s regular spot on the sidelines remains empty. The coach of SV Darmstadt 98 looks after his Bundesliga footballers from home. There he looks after his wife, who suffered a stroke.
Daily video conferences with his coaching staff, evening analysis of the training sessions on his laptop at home – and of course there should be contact during the game: Torsten Lieberknecht can’t completely let go of his SV Darmstadt 98. However, the tricky sporting class struggle of his lilies is currently only playing a secondary role for the 50-year-old; the attention in the Lieberknecht house is focused on his ill wife Simone.
Because she suffered a stroke at the beginning of the week. According to club spokesman Jan Bergholz, she is “on the mend” and has now left the hospital – but Lieberknecht will play the home game against FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday (3.30 p.m./Sky and in the live ticker at ntv.de) miss. The Hessen head coach is needed at home by his family and takes good care of his Simone. The derby in the bottom of the table becomes a minor matter.
However, the people of Darmstadt do not have to completely forego the expertise of their promotion coach. “I haven’t done anything alone. I’m not doing an interim solo effort,” said his representative Ovid Hanjou energetically: “I’m in daily contact with Torsten. We did video conferences, did the analysis like every week – nothing else. He was connected, participated normally and participated in all decisions as always.”
There should also be a hot connection during the game, but the strategy has not yet been worked out. “Let’s see how we can maintain contact. That hasn’t been discussed in detail yet,” the actual assistant coach continued. The opponent from Mainz was also “emotional” and “sympathetic” towards Lieberknecht, who had taken in Ukrainian refugees in his house the previous year. “All the best and a speedy recovery,” wished 05 coach Jan Siewert.
Lieberknecht’s time out shouldn’t be a one-time thing. “It can be assumed that Torsten will not be there next week either,” explained Bergholz. The family man will definitely take all the time he needs at home.