2023-10-13 04:24:00
Anderlecht’s Kasper Schmeichel in 1979 was called Friedrich Koncilia. The Austrian was one of the best goalkeepers at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina and was to become the revelation of our championship. Today, Koncilia is 75 years old and he is the most capped goalkeeper in the history of his country (84 matches). His legendary status has been further cemented since losing a leg. “An amputation in December last year was essential,” he told us, sitting on the terrace of his Oase hotel in Bad Ischl, a spa resort in the Pre-Alps where the DH visited him on the eve of Austria – Belgium. I dodged.”
Koncilia at the 1982 World Cup, after his misadventure in Anderlecht. ©Icon Sport
His smile is still as radiant as when we met him during Euro 2008 in Vienna. But his life took a terrible turn. “Since 2021, I have been blind in one eye and I only see 60% in the other eye, due to an operation on my carotid artery which was completely blocked. They must have hit something behind my eye. I have been to the hospital in Switzerland and Vienna and I want to go to the United States for surgery, but no one can help me. I can no longer drive a car. But in life, I manage.”
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“I still have an 8 handicap in golf. My 15-year-old son has a 3 handicap. He hits 300 yards. He can become a pro.”
New tile, the following year. “I had a simple sore on my big toe. As I am diabetic, the wound did not heal. They cut off a piece of my big toe, then a second piece. On December 21, three doctors determined that I had developed sepsis. I had blood poisoning. My foot was green (Editor’s note: He shows us horrible photos on his phone). The pain was unbearable. They gave me a choice: either I lost my leg or I died. I called my wife (Editor’s note: Jasmin, who is 49 years old), and I presented the dilemma to her. We didn’t hesitate. They went to find an external surgeon. The amputation lasted two to three hours. After nine weeks in the hospital, I was able to go home.”
Koncilia with her son Esteban, a great golf talent. ©DR
Koncilia limps slightly, but is doing well. “I even still play golf! Before, I had a disability 4. Now, despite my double disability, I still have a disability 8. I have no choice. I can’t be ridiculous by going to play with my 15-year-old son, Esteban. It’s pure talent. He has a handicap of 3. He hits the ball 280 and even 300 meters. It’s like the professionals. Yes, he can go pro. He has been playing since he was three years old. He watches all the tournaments on TV. Above all, he will have to hold on mentally. I remember the Austrian national team losing 7-0 against England in 1973. We could have given up, but we became an excellent team. Both at the 1978 World Cup and 1982, we qualified for the second round.”
Here we come to the news of the day: the match between Austria and Belgium. Even more than before her operation, Koncilia has time to follow football on TV. “Especially the Bundesliga and the Premier League, and a little bit of the Austrian championship.”
Having played two World Cups and 532 club matches, he has one of the most respected opinions in Austrian football. Austria’s shared first place in Belgium’s group surprises him. “I never thought we would have brought home a point from Brussels, but your second half was bad. This Friday, I expect a Belgian victory again. You lose 30% of your abilities without Kevin De Bruyne. I prefer Kevin to Eden Hazard. But we are even more strained without Alaba, Arnautovic, Posh and Trauner. I don’t like Arnautovic, he’s crazy. But I have to admit he’s incredible.”
Koncilia has to think when we ask her who are the best Austrians, in the absence of the four injured. “I like Laimer from Bayern Munich. And Schlager from Leipzig. Freiburg’s Michael Gregoritsch is a good striker – he has scored five goals in six national team games – but he is not a goalscorer on Lukaku’s level. And Lukaku is not at Haaland’s level. I often went to see Red Bull Salzburg – it’s an hour’s drive from Bad Ischl. I knew he was only going to have one season. Bayern made a mistake by letting him go to Dortmund, so as not to have him compete with Lewandowski.”
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“Yes, I headbutted the dad of Michael Gregoristch, the Austrian striker. What stupidity.”
When talking about striker Michael Gregoritsch missing this Friday evening, Koncilia spontaneously thinks of his dad Werner Gregoritsch, who was a footballer in his time. “I headbutted him which earned me a 6-month suspension and a fine of 14,500 euros. While warming up behind my goal during Austria Vienna – Graz AK, he threw insults at me like: ‘You old geezer, we’re going to give you three goals’. In the end, we won 1-0 and I went to find him after the match (laughs). I did something stupid and I paid for it. And in the meantime, we made up.”
Gregoristch is one of the only compatriots to have dared to make fun of Koncilia, a monument in Austria. In 1979, Koncilia was also included in the world selection which was to face Argentina, the world champion, in a gala match. The match took place in Buenos Aires. “I was a reservist at Anderlecht at that time (laughs). Among the others selected were world stars like Rossi, Tardelli, Krol, Tahamata, Boniek, Kaltz, Platini and Zico. We won 1-2 in front of 100,000 people. Maradona had played the first half. I never saw anyone like the Brazilian Zico play that day again. And Platini… We had a week of training in Madrid. Platini gave me free kicks as if he were taking penalties.”
At that time, the Austria of Koncilia, Krankl and Pezzey scared any nation. They beat Spain, Sweden and Germany at the 1978 World Cup. Koncilia: “The current Austria will qualify for the Euro again – Sweden is terribly weak – but what this generation is missing is a qualification for the World Cup. Do you know that we haven’t been to a World Cup since 1998 in France?”
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