About a year after ending his career, Marco Russ presented his biography “Kämpfen. Win. Live. A life for football and against cancer”. In addition to exceptional emotional moments such as the “relegation of the Randalemeister” or the 2018 Cup victory, the former defender also tells how he beat cancer, which was diagnosed in 2016.
“28 February 2017. 285 days after diagnosis. 90th minute in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup. We are leading 1:0 against Arminia Bielefeld. 39,000 fans are in the stadium shouting my name: “RUSS! RUSS! RUSS!” How I have longed for this moment. 285 days. It’s crazy how time flies. And how sometimes it really does make all wounds heal again. I look around. Trying to understand what is going on here. “RUSS! RUSS! RUSS!” The thousands of voices feel like the firm embrace of the curve. It tells me that I am still alive. On my chest, just above my heart, I feel the eagle embroidered on our jersey. It has witnessed so many adventures and dramas. The leather of my shoes clings tightly to my feet. The cleats sink into the square metre of turf that is now my entryway. To where I belong. And where I have not been allowed to be for so long.”
This is how the prologue begins – and provides a foretaste of what awaits the reader in the following 17 chapters. Actually, Marco Russ never intended to become an author. That’s how he tells it at the book launch. A friend gave him the idea, but at first doubts prevailed: “I thought: After 25 pages my book will be over and everyone will think: ‘Okay, what’s this now?'” The scepticism has long since given way. His ghostwriter, journalist and author Alex Raack, pestered him with questions for months. “There are many messages in the book. I was a professional for 17 years, so a lot of things came together. It has become a really cool book. For the Eintracht fans who have accompanied me all the way. But also for people who have had experiences with cancer. I show how I dealt with it and how I overcame cancer. How I prepared myself mentally and how I felt. “
“What do we tell the children? How are we going to go on when you’re gone? “
RUSS’ EX-WIFE JANINA
The 18th of May 2016 turned Marco Russ’ life upside down from one moment to the next. Doping tests revealed a significantly elevated beta-HCG level, NADA was alarmed and suspected Russ of doping. The public prosecutor’s office even ordered a search of his locker and his flat. A nightmare within a nightmare. A hastily consulted urologist gave the terrible certainty: “No sooner had he taken his hand out of my crotch than he looked at me and said the words that no training session in the world could have prepared me for: ‘I’m sorry to say this, but: you have testicular cancer.'”
It seems almost surreal that Russ led the team onto the field as captain in the relegation play-off against 1 FC Nürnberg (1-1) just one day later. It was to be his last appearance for the time being before the long and difficult battle against cancer began. There were “shitty days and weeks”, Russ says, times when “everything pissed him off”. But overall he remained positive, which is perhaps the most important message of the book. “The head decides so much at that moment,” Russ stresses, “just being positive is the most important thing. That also spills over to the relatives, who then think positively. It’s even harder for them to deal with it. “
Meanwhile, Russ is an analyst with the Frankfurt Pros
How difficult is told by the following lines: “I spent the night with Janina (his ex-wife, editor’s note) in her flat. While I once again remained astonishingly cold, she was completely exhausted. What are we going to tell the children? How are we going to go on when you’re gone?'” I tried to reassure her with my sober assessment. Clearly, a very difficult time would now come for me and my family. But I would win this battle.” He was right – and two years later celebrated the greatest success of his career when he helped to save the victory in the cup final against FC Bayern (3:1) in the shooting phase and bring the first title to Frankfurt after 30 eternally long years. When asked about the most emotional moment, Russ doesn’t have to think: “That was the cup victory.
He still wears the eagle on his chest today, how could it be otherwise? With the exception of a one-and-a-half-year intermezzo at VfL Wolfsburg, Russ laced up his boots for Eintracht from 1996 to 2020, making over 300 professional appearances. In the meantime, he works closely with the coaching team as an analyst. The final chapter has not yet been written.