Josef Zinnbauer could lose the most expensive.
Lokomotiv announced the appointment of the German Josef Zinnbauer as the head coach, and many have already had time to doubt his competence. The skepticism towards a little-known foreign specialist is understandable. However, people do not appear from nothingness – everyone has their own story and their own pain.
If you get to know a person better, he ceases to seem like “just another foreigner who came to earn money.” Maybe Zinnbauer did fly to the feeder, but that’s not all he’s made of. Quite recently, the new coach of Loko experienced a terrible tragedy.
Josef could lose the most expensive!
Terrible accident
In the winter of 2019, Zinnbauer radically changed his life. The specialist, who had previously worked only within Europe, went to the ends of the world – to South Africa. There he headed one of the main clubs in the country – Orlando Pirates. The first, incomplete, season was finished in third place.
In the second season, Zinnbauer had to demonstrate all his coaching skills. Subsequently, after leaving the club, he will complain that local players sometimes do not even know the basic things about football. However, while the contract was in effect, the coach did not allow himself such liberties, but conscientiously worked for the good of the team.
But then everything turned upside down in Zinnbauer’s life, and thoughts about football faded into the background. In October 2020, Josef received shocking news: his 24-year-old son was in a terrible accident. Fabio Zinnbauer, playing in the lower divisions of Germany, crashed into a truck. His little Skoda was almost completely crushed, and the guy himself fell into a coma. He was taken to the hospital, but the chances were extremely small. Some tabloids even began to write that Fabio died, but it turned out to be fake.
Of course, Zinnbauer immediately dropped everything and flew to Germany. Already in November, when the shock subsided a little, he finally spoke to the press about what had happened. Before that, all the details were carefully hidden by both the club and the coach’s family.
— First of all, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported us. The fans, the staff of the club, the players – they all wrote us very touching messages. Thanks also to the management for allowing me to leave. My son is still fighting for his life, but he is still in a coma and there is nothing we can do to help him now. We only pray for him and try to transfer our energy to him, – News24 quotes Zinbauer.
Dedicated the trophy to my son
In December, Fabio Zinnbauer was still in a coma and his father was fighting for the trophy in South Africa. The Orlando Pirates reached the final of the so-called Cup of Eight – a tournament where the teams that took the first 8 places in the previous season in the South African Championship take part. This trophy is considered semi-official – something like a super bowl, but it was still extremely important to win the final, because Orlando had not won any titles for six years before that.
In the final, the “pirates” got the team “Bloemfontein Celtic”. As a result, Orlando won with a score of 2: 1, and during the meeting the players had to recoup, as they missed already in the 4th minute. Zinnbauer was very happy after the final whistle and again thanked everyone and everything:
We have a trophy. Thanks to the president, thanks to the team. We had different games, but today we deserved to win. I can say that I have learned a lot here. It’s a good experience for me and for the players. We are very happy that we have pleased the fans – they have been waiting for this title for many years. Thank God for this game. I hope God will return my son to me as soon as possible. I dedicate this cup to him,” the African Football portal quoted Zinnbauer as saying.
“Far from Recovery”
In August 2021, right before the start of the new season, the Orlando Pirates announced the departure of Zinnbauer. During the time spent at the club, the German, in addition to winning the Cup of Eight, twice took third place in the championship. In general, the memories of him remained quite positive. Yes, and the specialist himself left – no one kicked him out.
I left for family reasons. It’s no secret that my son was in a serious accident. I wanted to spend more time with him and the rest of my family,” Josef said in an interview on the MNT FC online platform.
The coach also told positive news about his son. Fabio came out of the coma and began his recovery. True, he is unlikely to be able to return to football in the near future.
– It’s hard for me to talk about it. He got better, but full recovery is still very far away. The process is very slow. Still, Fabio was in a coma for quite a long time, Zinnbauer said in the same interview.
It seems that now the son of Joseph is even better, since he agreed to lead the club in Russia. From here it will also be difficult for him to get to Germany under the current circumstances. I would like to believe that the nerves of the new coach of Loko are stronger than those of his predecessor Markus Gisdol, and he will not run away under the cover of night.
