Toni Schumacher
Full name: Harald Anton Schumacher
Born: 6 March 1954 in Duren, Germany.
Nationality: German
Playing career: until 1972: Schwarz-Weiss Duren. 1972-1987: Cologne. 1987-1988: Schalke. 1988-1991: Fenerbahce. 1991-1992: Bayern Munich. 1995-1996: Borussia Dortmund.
Honours as a player: European Championship winner (1980), FIFA World Cup™ runner-up (1982 and 1986), German league champion (1978 and 1996), German cup winner (1977, 1978 and 1983). 76 international appearances for West Germany.
Coaching career: 1996-1998: Borussia Dortmund (goalkeeping coach). 1998-2000: Fortuna Cologne. 2001-2003: Bayer Leverkusen (goalkeeping coach).

Toni Schumacher – Pulling No Punches
Harald “Toni” Schumacher, once one of the best goalkeepers in the world, is now a businessman with a successful sportsmarketing agency in his hometown of Cologne.
The red-brick building is a picture of modernity. Outside, a stream of traffic heads towards town and the number 7 tram stops practically right outside the entrance to the building. To the back is the hospital where Christoph Daum checked in for an operation and ended up agreeing to take over as Cologne manager.
Here, in Linden thal, is the new kingdom of a certain Harald “Toni” Schumacher, who four years ago swapped his shorts for a sharp suit: “I’ve always liked to dress well”.
Bright, airy rooms let sunshine flood into the conference rooms of Sports First, the Cologne sportsmarketing agency that Schumacher runs with his partner, Markus Bockelkamp, a former sports journalist.
A collection of photos (Schumacher with Maradona, Beckenbauer, Seeler) and trophies (two golden balls for two German player of the year awards, one silver ball for the second-best player at the 1986 FIFA World Cup™ in Mexico) reveal that someone who was popular during his career works here. Indeed, in 1986, he helped to carry West Germany to the World Cup final with his saves, punches and catches before, in one of the biggest games of his life, he made a mistake that cost his team a goal. That said, he has come to terms with it all now. “In 1982 and 1986, I wasn’t happy with second best,” he admits. “I felt like a loser but today I say, ‘come on, how many people have played in two consecutive World Cup finals?’”
He did have more luck on the European and domestic fronts though, finishing EURO 1980 in Italy – his first major tournament – with a winner’s medal. A replica of the German league trophy pays testimony to two successful campaigns, first with Cologne and later with Borussia Dortmund … but that is all in the past.
Schumacher is one of very few former footballers who can say that they have made a success of a career in a completely different walk of life. Cologne’s training ground, where Schumacher spent many an hour during his playing days, lies barely a kilometre away from the four-storey building that houses Sports First on the third and fourth floors. Berrenrather Strasse is a stone’s throw from Durener Strasse, but still he sees no reason to be nostalgic, even though he always dreamt of one day being president at “his club”. “Nobody ever asked me,” says the 54-year-old who, somewhat surprisingly, talks without a hint of regret in his voice.
THIRD LIFE
Schumacher is as active in his “third life” as he was when he was between the posts. As part of a 16-strong agency, the German legend is now one of the best in his field, as proven by the agency’s successful courting, despite huge competition, of Russian energy giants and Schalke sponsors Gazprom, a company that has improved its image and reputation thanks to Sports First.
But it is not all about Gazprom. Whether it is Postbank (a Official Supplier of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™), Talanx AG (the third-largest insurance company in Germany) or Heristo Holding (the worldwide food manufacturer is the majority shareholder and main sponsor of leading German handball team TBV Lemgo), the agency’s portfolio makes impressive reading. “Anyone who wants to advertise in football should come to us,” insists Schumacher. “We are investment advisers, but we are also footballers – we just don’t wear shorts anymore.”
From a coppersmith from Duren to a leading player in the cut-throat world of commerce, Schumacher’s route to the top has been long and successful, but not exactly direct. In 1987, shortly after publishing his autobiography Anpfiff (“Kick-off”), Schumacher was forced out of Cologne as well as the West German national team. His travels took him to Schalke, Turkey (where he won the league with Fenerbahce), Bayern Munich and finally to Borussia Dortmund where he won his second German championship medal by playing in the final match of the season, which was also to prove his swansong as a 42-year-old.
Life after football began as you might expect: Schumacher entered coaching with a short, unsuccessful spell at second-division outfit Fortuna Cologne sandwiched in between roles as goalkeeping coach at Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen. It was during his time at Fortuna that he first crossed paths with Bockelkamp. Just a few years later, the former Bildreporter encouraged Schumacher to start a new career by asking: “Do you still want to be standing around in shorts at the age of 60, firing shots at goal and then letting doctors remove water from your shattered knee? Use your contacts, your network, your big mouth, your experience, your popularity.”
“IT’S FUN”
Schumacher took the plunge and admits that he needed a year to find his feet. Looking back, he recognises that it was “exactly the kind of challenge” he needed. Once up and running, he was quickly hungry for more, to the point where he is now fully committed to his job. “I needed to learn,” he says. “But I did so with 100 per cent commitment.” Just as he did at his clubs, with just one rather significant difference: “All of this is mine”.
There can be no doubt that Schumacher is a 54-year-old who can look back on a successful career. Even so, he has no intention of calling it a day just yet. “It’s just too much fun,” he says. Schumacher combines his skill with what he learnt in football, an area he knows all too well. He also gets to know people, bringing them together, talking to them, persuading them, negotiating with them and arguing his point. “I’ve always been open and eloquent,” he explains. “I’m simply using my skills.”
His spare time is invariably spent at his house on the banks of the Rhine in Cologne with his wife, Jasmin, and his young daughter, Perla Marie. Once his daughter is tucked up in bed, he treats himself to a bottle of fine Australian red wine from his cellar, which his mother-in-law, who lives “Down Under”, keeps well-stocked. “It is tasty and an uncomplicated wine,” he says.
That said, spare time is something of a rarity as Schumacher the wine enthusiast seldom replaces Schumacher the businessman. Schumacher the pundit is another “alter ego” that he enjoys, whether for TV channel ZDF, sportl.de or for major football publications. His opinion is always in demand, especially now that discussions are once again raging about who should be in goal for Germany at EURO 2008. One thing is for sure: Schumacher never pulls any punches with his comments. That is how he has always been. That is how he has come so far. The many diversions along the way have not harmed him.

The Stadium:
Name: Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa
Address: Avenida 6 de Diciembre y Naciones Unidas, El Batan,
Quito – Ecuador
Opened: 1951
Last renovation: 2005
No, of seats: 40,948
% of stadium covered: 5%
Home teams: El Nacional, La Universidad Catolica, Deportivo Quito,
Ecuadorian national teams
Internet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estadio_Olimpico_Atahualpa

Atahualpa – Ecuadorian Joy
The Olympic “Atahualpa” stadium rests on the Batan hill on a plateau to one side of a stretching valley. This is where Ecuador’s capital Quito majestically sits on its equatorial Andean mountain throne. For many, the name “Atahualpa” conjures up images of Incan emperors, princes and princesses, lost kingdoms and the mystical El Dorado. Even more reason then to baptise the country’s theatre of dreams with the name Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa.
This is the stadium where Ecuador’s football came of age on 7 November 2001 when, for the first time ever, this small South American country made history by qualifying for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan”‘. It was a dream come true for those privileged 40,000 spectators inside the stadium who were lucky enough to witness unimaginable scenes of joy and euphoria and who will one day be able to tell their grandchildren, first¬hand, the story of that afternoon’s events. The joy spread into the streets and cities of Ecuador as the country exploded with pride and cries of “Si se pudo” (“we did it”).
Four years later, against all the odds, the very same stadium witnessed similar scenes of ecstasy and wild celebrations as tiny Ecuador repeated the feat by joining the top 32 countries on the world’s greatest stage, the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™, ahead of the likes of Colombia, Chile, Peru and two-time world champions Uruguay. You would think that such a feat would consecrate the Olimpico Atahualpa as the nations home stadium. However, regional differences and interests have historically seen the national team venue switched between the two main cities, Quito and Guayaquil (the birthplace of football in Ecuador), even though Guayaquil boasts a bigger and more modern stadium (Barcelona’s home stadium holds 80,000). Nevertheless, the Atahualpa has finally been baptised, unequivocally, as the “home” of the national team.
Bowl-shaped stadiums can be found in most countries in South America, the most famous of which being the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, which was built for the 1930 FIFA World Cup™. This style of arena, with a moat and a running track surrounding the pitch, was inspired by the Berlin Olympic stadium’s architecture and the construction of the new football stadium in Quito was commissioned and financed by the municipality of Quito and built by the local construction company, Mena Atlas. The clearing of the land, originally occupied by grazing cows, began in May 1948. High up in the mountains at nearly 3,000 metres, the clearing and movement of earth and rock was a laborious and tedious procedure in an era when manpower was as intensive as construction equipment scarce in Ecuador. Over 1,400,000 man-hours were invested in the building of the stadium; 200 to 300 labourers were used at a time, working six-day weeks for almost two and a half years over an area of 14,000m2 before the stadium was inaugurated on 25 November 1951.
A FOGGY NIGHT
The opening of the stadium was marked with a four-team tournament in torrential rain between Cucuta Deportivo of Colombia, Boca Juniors from Argentina, Rio Guayas (the best Ecuadorian club at the time) and a regional XI representing the province of Pichincha. In those days, this part of Quito was open land far away from the city centre, but today it boasts some of the most expensive property around the built-up metropolis of Quito.
The original name of the stadium was Estadio Olimpico Municipal (“Municipal Olympic stadium”) and it remained that way for twelve years until 1963 when the local government in Quito decided to rename their sporting arenas after historical figures from the Incan era. For the football stadium, they chose Atahualpa, the last emperor of the Incan empire, and so the stadium became the Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa.
Floodlights were installed on 30 December 1970 and the first game under them was a friendly between LDU of Quito and AJajuelense of Costa Rica. LDU triumphed 1-0 but so thick was the fog that the spectators present apparently missed most of the match.
SIX YEARS UNBEATEN
The next stage of construction work was completed in 1977 when the capacity was increased to 45,000, including standing areas. The stadium was most recently renovated in 1993 in preparation for the Copa America and the FIFA U-17 World Cup with financial support from the government. The VIP tribune and media areas were also improved, but the work reduced the capacity to today’s total of 40,948.
Football has long been the sporting passion of Ecuadorians and the World Cup dream has always been present, but ever since rejecting an invitation to play in the 1930 FIFA World Cup™ in Uruguay, and as much as they tried, qualification always seemed to escape them. It is easy to understand that living in the shadows of football giants such as Brazil and Argentina makes life very difficult.
Facing such football icons every four years in FIFA World Cup™ qualifiers makes it nigh-on impossible to establish unbroken or continuous unbeaten runs, but amazingly the Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa became a fortress for Ecuador, who went six years unbeaten there. Surprisingly, it was not Brazil or Argentina who ended the run in the first game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ qualifiers, but lowly Venezuela who became the first away team since Argentina in 2001 to triumph in Quito.

The Stadium
Name: Ali Sami Yen Stadium
Address: Ali Sami Yen Stadium,
Hasnun Galip Sokak 7-11, Istanbul
(Mecidiyekoy), Turkey
Opened: 1964
Last renovation: August 2007
No, of seats: 26,750
% of stadium covered: 60%
Home teams: Galatasaray, Turkish national teams
Internet: www.alisamiyen.net

Ali Sami Yen – The Gate Of Hell
Many a myth has been spun around the time-honoured Ali Sami Yen Stadium, which has gained a reputation for inducing fear and trembling in visiting teams. Paolo Maldini himself commented after AC Milan’s 3-2 defeat to Galatasaray in 2000, “There must have been far more than only 20,000 fans in that stadium tonight.” Several elite clubs have been taught a lesson or two in the stadium where the 15-time winners of the Turkish league championship play. Teams such as Barcelona, Juventus, Lazio, Monaco, Deportivo La Coruna, Rangers, Real Madrid and, of course, AC Milan have all suffered humiliating defeat in the Ali Sami Yen. “We have won countless football battles on this ground. The atmosphere, the rapturous fans — they fire us up. The spark from the stands electrifies the players even before kick-off,” is how Hakan Sukur, Galatasaray and Turkey legendary striker, explains the special qualities of his home ground.
The stadium has a capacity for only 26,750 fans and is better known as the “Bosporus Hell”. “This stadium is just as deafening as the Camp Nou in Barcelona,” claims Romania’s Gheorghe Hagi. He ought to know as he has played for both Galatasaray and Barcelona. The only difference is that the Camp Nou can accommodate all of 98,770 fans.
Officially opened in December 1964, Ali Sami Yen is a “spring chicken”, to quote Galatasaray President Ozhan Canaydin, compared to other fine stadiums around the world. Although the club had been founded in 1905, it was still playing its matches on other clubs’ grounds 35 years later, when, in 1940, Ali Sami Yen, a pupil at the former Galatasaray High School, launched an initiative to build a stadium that the club could call home. But World War II put a spanner in the works, and differences of opinion with the building authorities in Istanbul delayed construction until 1964. Only one year later, floodlights were installed in the ground.
TRAGEDY
A monumental ceremony, featuring a friendly between Turkey and Bulgaria, was planned for the stadium’s inauguration on 20 December 1964 but it turned out to be a monument to tragedy. Capacity at that time was for 35,000, but far more fans craved to be allowed into the stadium. Tragedy struck even before kick-off when the safety fence on the second tier collapsed under the weight of the crowd and hundreds plunged onto the first floor. In the event, one person died and 81 were seriously injured. Despite the disaster, Austrian referee Anton Haberfeiner signalled for the match to begin. A lacklustre goalless draw was the result, as everyone, including the journalists and spectators, was in a state of shock and a ghostly silence hung over the Ali Sami Yen Stadium.
Many onlookers interpreted the tragedy as an omen for the future but Galatasaray clung to their stadium and celebrated one famous victory after another – all in all, 15 league championships and 14 cup wins. Fans witnessed their first notable international success on 9 November 1988 when the then revered Swiss club, NeuchatelXamax, were almost buried alive in the Bosporus Hell despite having won the first leg of the European Cup 3-0. The “red and yellows”, as Galatasaray are dubbed in allusion to their team’s colours, subjected Xamax to a 5-0 thrashing. “I have never experienced anything like it in my entire footballing career. It’s just as well I play for Galatasaray. Even I found the ear-splitting noise shattering. I wonder how the Swiss must have felt?” mused midfielder Cevad Prekazi (who played for the Istanbul club from 1985 to 1991) after the sensational game. The oval arena soon became the bane of all domestic and international opponents. “In fact, there were always fewer fans in our stadium than in our local rivals’ — Fenerbahce and Besiktas – because security regulations restricted admission to no more than 22,000 spectators. But our fans always made up for the difference in numbers with their frenetic cheering,” enthuses former Galatasaray striker Tanju Colak, who began his brilliant career for Turkey in Ali Sami Yen and still sings the praises of the tiny football temple.
“LION HILL”
But the stadiums limited capacity is a serious handicap to Galatasaray’s consolidation at the top of the international football ladder, despite having won the UEFA Cup and the European Super Cup in 2000. However, playing in another ground such as the 81,700-capaciry Ataturk Olympic Stadium, while their own was being renovated for security reasons, was not the right solution for Galatasaray. “The cheering diminished for our home games. It was as though we were playing away from home,” explains striker Sukur.
Galatasaray are now planning to build a multi-purpose arena based on the football stadiums in Amsterdam (ArenA) and Munich (Allianz Arena). The site of the new Ali Sami Yen Stadium, which will accommodate close on 55,000 fans, is “Lion Hill” (Aslantepe). “Hell will be even hotter there,” forecasts President Canaydin.
If all goes well and there are no financial hiccups, the stadium should be completed by December 2009. The new arena could indeed lead Galatasaray into a fresh era of rubbing shoulders with the international crerne de la creme.