One medical diagnosis changed Marco Russ’ life one year ago – he had cancer. An operation and chemotherapy followed, but the 31-year-old made his return to the field for Eintracht shortly before the end of the DFB-Pokal game against Arminia Bielefeld in February 2017. The crowd honoured him, with some members of the audience shedding a tear – Russ is back, healthy, and full of vitality. Now he’s in the final for the second time.
Marco Russ also had to step up to the penalty spot as the fifth taker against Gladbach, and had to score to stop Gladbach from being the Bundesliga side that would progress to the final. He ran up to the ball, struck it – and scored. Eintracht Frankfurt were still in the running. Marco Russ (31) took on the responsibility before slotting the ball coolly into the bottom-right corner, and then turning his eyes upward to the black sky above. Perhaps he thanked someone, perhaps he thought that his life changed at that moment.
Now, there are plenty of things that simply don’t bother Marco Russ anymore. Penalty shootouts, tired legs, aching limbs, and the ever present question: ‘will I play the next game?’ are probably some of the more trivial worries for him, that were once important topics. Once, when the world was as it was for Marco Russ before May 18th of last year. But nothing was the same after that day, when the shock-diagnosis came through: “Mr. Russ, you have testicular cancer.”
Athletic, 1.90 metres tall, aerial threat
Marco Russ’ small world wasn’t hard on him. It was the world of a footballer who isn’t exactly a big star, but is renowned locally. The boy who grew up in Hanau was good on the ball, ambitious, and driven. His father Rainer trained him to begin with before moving to Eintracht at the age of 11. He played for all of their youth teams, and was handed his professional contract by former chairman Heribert Bruchhagen when Friedhelm Funkel was manager of Eintracht, with Jens Keller, Andy Möller, and Alex Schur his colleagues at the time – that’s how long Russ has been at the club.
His career took off quickly. Russ is a tough and powerful defender, standing at 1.90 metres tall, and renowned for his heading ability. He’s an old-school stopper who doesn’t mess about. He’s a man who’s solid, authentic, and wins you games in no-nonsense fashion. Russ has more than 280 Bundesliga games – the majority of which came during his time at Eintracht – under his belt. He also had two season at VfL Wolfsburg in-between his last and current spell at Frankfurt.
Then came the 18th of May, when Russ’ life was turned upside down. A routine anti-doping test showed that Russ had a dramatically increased number of HCG growth hormones in his body. Whilst there were initial suspicions on whether Russ had taken banned substances, but it soon became clear that the matter was serious – a lot more serious.
Russ: “It was almost over”
Marco Russ reacted like any footballer would react. An important relegation playoff game against 1. FC Nürnberg was due to take place in the evening, and he was supposed to be in the tunnel. Regardless, he played the game, but the Frankfurt boy had a game to forget which saw him score an own-goal and one too many yellow cards, meaning he was suspended for the reverse-fixture. However, instead of saving the team’s Bundesliga future, he had to save his own life. He went under the knife on the morning of the game, on May 23rd. Later, the centre-back told the ‘Frankfurter Rundschau’ how close he came to death: “It was almost the end, to the point where the operation wouldn’t have been enough.”
A year has passed. Russ has been healthy as of October last year. He’s overcome the chemotherapy, the feeling of helplessness, the months of hope and fear, and the uncertainty of it all. His family are behind him. Russ said that he did not fear death, and that he was “looking at things in a positive light, humour helps.” He was also honest to his two little children about the matter at hand, as he came to terms with his fate. The illness made him more reflective and changed his outlook on life today for good, as you would expect. When things were looking bleak for him, he retrospectively said that “football was of no interest to me. The most important thing in life is health – everything else is secondary.” - A profound realisation that one only comes to when the going gets tough. Now he knows to cherish the things that he holds dear in life.
Emotional comeback in the DFB-Pokal
One medical diagnosis changed Marco Russ’ life one year ago – he had cancer. An operation and chemotherapy followed, but the 31-year-old made his return to the field for Eintracht shortly before the end of the DFB-Pokal game against Arminia Bielefeld in February 2017. The crowd honoured him, with some members of the audience shedding a tear – Russ is back, healthy, and full of vitality. Now he’s in the final for the second time.
Marco Russ also had to step up to the penalty spot as the fifth taker against Gladbach, and had to score to stop Gladbach from being the Bundesliga side that would progress to the final. He ran up to the ball, struck it – and scored. Eintracht Frankfurt were still in the running. Marco Russ (31) took on the responsibility before slotting the ball coolly into the bottom-right corner, and then turning his eyes upward to the black sky above. Perhaps he thanked someone, perhaps he thought that his life changed at that moment.
Now, there are plenty of things that simply don’t bother Marco Russ anymore. Penalty shootouts, tired legs, aching limbs, and the ever present question: ‘will I play the next game?’ are probably some of the more trivial worries for him, that were once important topics. Once, when the world was as it was for Marco Russ before May 18th of last year. But nothing was the same after that day, when the shock-diagnosis came through: “Mr. Russ, you have testicular cancer.”
Athletic, 1.90 metres tall, aerial threat
Marco Russ’ small world wasn’t hard on him. It was the world of a footballer who isn’t exactly a big star, but is renowned locally. The boy who grew up in Hanau was good on the ball, ambitious, and driven. His father Rainer trained him to begin with before moving to Eintracht at the age of 11. He played for all of their youth teams, and was handed his professional contract by former chairman Heribert Bruchhagen when Friedhelm Funkel was manager of Eintracht, with Jens Keller, Andy Möller, and Alex Schur his colleagues at the time – that’s how long Russ has been at the club.
His career took off quickly. Russ is a tough and powerful defender, standing at 1.90 metres tall, and renowned for his heading ability. He’s an old-school stopper who doesn’t mess about. He’s a man who’s solid, authentic, and wins you games in no-nonsense fashion. Russ has more than 280 Bundesliga games – the majority of which came during his time at Eintracht – under his belt. He also had two season at VfL Wolfsburg in-between his last and current spell at Frankfurt.
Then came the 18th of May, when Russ’ life was turned upside down. A routine anti-doping test showed that Russ had a dramatically increased number of HCG growth hormones in his body. Whilst there were initial suspicions on whether Russ had taken banned substances, but it soon became clear that the matter was serious – a lot more serious.
Russ: “It was almost over”
Marco Russ reacted like any footballer would react. An important relegation playoff game against 1. FC Nürnberg was due to take place in the evening, and he was supposed to be in the tunnel. Regardless, he played the game, but the Frankfurt boy had a game to forget which saw him score an own-goal and one too many yellow cards, meaning he was suspended for the reverse-fixture. However, instead of saving the team’s Bundesliga future, he had to save his own life. He went under the knife on the morning of the game, on May 23rd. Later, the centre-back told the ‘Frankfurter Rundschau’ how close he came to death: “It was almost the end, to the point where the operation wouldn’t have been enough.”
A year has passed. Russ has been healthy as of October last year. He’s overcome the chemotherapy, the feeling of helplessness, the months of hope and fear, and the uncertainty of it all. His family are behind him. Russ said that he did not fear death, and that he was “looking at things in a positive light, humour helps.” He was also honest to his two little children about the matter at hand, as he came to terms with his fate. The illness made him more reflective and changed his outlook on life today for good, as you would expect. When things were looking bleak for him, he retrospectively said that “football was of no interest to me. The most important thing in life is health – everything else is secondary.” - A profound realisation that one only comes to when the going gets tough. Now he knows to cherish the things that he holds dear in life.
Emotional comeback in the DFB-Pokal
Russ had the courage to show himself in public at the start of Eintracht’s season in August. Although his situation had improved, the signs of sickness were clear: he had shaved his hair, put on weight, and was a shadow of his former self. But he did it – he’s back, back living a life and back in the football stadium. Marco made a return to the pitch on February 28th, playing two minutes in the DFB-Pokal quarter-final against Arminia Bielefeld. The whole stadium gave him a standing ovation and chanted his name, whilst many were tearing up at the scene. “It was a very emotional moment,” said Russ looking back on it. Since then, he’s back to playing regular Bundesliga games just like he used to.
What’s more – he’ll be there in the final. He’s been in the same position before, 11 years ago in 2006 in a 1-0 final loss with Eintracht against Bayern München. Alongside him stood Marko Rehmer, Ioannis Amanantidis, Markus Weissenberger, Oka Nikolov, and Alex Meier. Russ was just a young boy at the time, with long hair and a young face. “Berlin is a special experience,” he said. “The boys want to cause an upset.” The fact that he’ll be taking part in the final almost one year to the day of his cancer operation is a nice way to round off this chapter of his life. “It’s fantastic. It’s a real highlight as I near the end of my career,” commented Russ. “A fairytale,” said Eintracht chairman Fredi Bobic: “Now all that’s missing is a headed goal from him in the final.” However, that’s not really what Marco Russ needs – he’s already claimed his most important victory.
