FELIX MAGATH – Polished Perseverance

Discussion in 'Bayern Munich' started by Parthian, Jul 12, 2005.

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  1. Parthian

    Parthian New Member

    Jul 1, 2005
    FELIX MAGATH – Polished Perseverance

    Born on the 26 of July 1953 Felix Wolfgang Magath is one of Germany's prized football possessions. Many describe him as an extremely patient man that sees life as a professional journey which is underlined by one word – perseverance!

    Felix was born to a Puerto Rican father and German mother however only publicly announced his Puerto Rican link within the last few years. Felix's father was based in Germany after the second world war as apart of the American deployment. However, soon after Felix's birth, he left and moved back to Puerto Rico.

    Felix did not even talk to his father until a few years ago because he took his leaving of Germany as a walk-away from him and his mother.

    Nevertheless, Felix found football and by the tender age of 14 was seen playing against players in their 20s in the local park.

    His talent was spotted early, however with a few personal set backs, Felix finally managed to get a starting spot in the Hamburg SV squad. Of which the icing on the cake was in 1983 when he famously kicked Hamburg to a famous 1-0 win against Juventus in the European Cup.

    Felix went on to score a total of 46 goals during his Bundesliga career, cementing his place as an all-time great of that league.

    In the famous world cup of 1982, Felix burst on the international scene helping Germany to second place and again in 1986 when he helped his country to another silver medal. Felix played a strong game in his team’s final 3-2 loss Argentina, a game where many remember as where Diego Maradona stamped his place in football history winning the Adidas Golden Ball Award.

    In early July of 2004, Felix signed as the coach of Bayern Munich and in the same season took the club to the top of the Bundesliga table for the 19th time since 1932.

    'With us winning the championship this year, I finally feel at home in Munich' Felix told reporters after lifting the trophy.

    Not long after the victory, Felix also took a personal step and announced to various media outlets that since 1999 he has been seeing his biological father regularly and also announced of his intentions to possibly help Puerto Rican football. In-fact, Felix and his family holidayed there during June, a holiday which further strengthened his ties to Puerto Rico and his roots.

    FELIX AND IRAN

    Not many people would know this but Felix Magath has been a regular visitor to Iran since 1994 where he visited the IFF as a consultant to help bring Iranian football into the 21st century. Later in 1997 he again visited Teheran with Rudi Voller. This was kept discreet, since probably it may have been a trip to discuss coaching opportunities with the IFF.

    In addition, to this Felix has been a major reason for Ali Karimi’s move from the UAE to Bayern and has recently publicly come out in support of the ‘Asian Maradona’.

    ‘Ali is a player which I have had my eye on ever since I saw him in action in the late 1990s and then again in 2001’

    ‘He is a player with amazing talent and a lot of ideas and I think he can do wonders for Bayern, but also Iran’.

    ‘I know the huge amount of pressure on Ali to perform. He has to make 70 million Iranians happy and that is not even counting the Iranians we have here in Germany. Many times after training I see lines of Iranian fans waiting for his autograph and picture.’

    Felix was recently asked about striker Vahid Hashemian’s experience at Bayern and what is in store for Ali Karimi:

    ‘Vahid is a good player. Unfortunately, he did not perform at Bayern due to a lot of reasons but none of them attributed to him as a person but more to do with the fact that other strikers always did well and he did not.’

    ‘Vahid and Ali and Ali Daei for that matter, are all different players and I can not compare them. However, even though the previous two have not been successful at Bayern, I think Ali Karimi will be.’

    ‘There is something about him when he dribbles towards the goal that I think will mesmerize a lot of defenses, coaches, sports analysts and spectators alike’.

    WHATS NEXT?

    Felix Magath wants to go on and become Bayern’s most prolific coach and he most certainly has his eyes on the 2006 Bundesliga title as well as the coveted UEFA Champions League title. A goal which we are all sure many Bayern fans will respond too, but also he may return to Puerto Rico to develop youth talent there. However, whatever is the case, Felix Magath will have a lot of eyes on him this season but if he continues his motto of perseverance, success will always be in sight.

    Article courtesy of Spyder from PFDC.
     

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