Turkey national coach
Kuntz on the Turkey earthquake: It really is horrific
The Turkish national coach Stefan Kuntz is deeply shocked after the earthquake disaster. photo
© Uncredited/AP/dpa
Stefan Kuntz has been the Turkish national coach since last year. The earthquake disaster at the beginning of the week shook the 60-year-old deeply.
The Turkish national soccer coach Stefan Kuntz expressed his deep concern about the earthquake disaster in the Turkish-Syrian border area.
“I have never experienced such a feeling of powerlessness – except perhaps during the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. For us here it is difficult to imagine: ten cities that are close together, 13 million people who are affected. You learn about the fates – and have to look on helplessly,” said Kuntz in an interview with “Rheinpfalz am Sonntag”.
The 60-year-old was still in Turkey when the devastating earthquake killed more than 22,000 people. “We went to another Süper Lig game on Sunday, and in the evening I went to sleep as usual. When I woke up on Monday, I turned on my cell phone and immediately saw all the news,” reported Kuntz.
Terrible pictures
In the offices of the Turkish Football Association in Istanbul, he saw the terrible pictures from the disaster area on TV. “I sat there with my mouth open for half an hour and just thought: This can’t be true. Just as I realized that the catastrophe was real, the terrible aftershock followed. I went into shock again,” said Kuntz.
It was terrible for him and still an emotional burden. “Because you can follow people’s fates publicly, your own dismay is huge. I think that when horror gets a face, it’s really horror,” said Kuntz.
He himself has called for donations on social networks. “We have set up a donation account with the football association TFF and are forwarding the money to the Turkish civil protection authority. My national players, my family and I are also involved,” he said.
Personal fundraiser
Kuntz is also starting a personal fundraising campaign in his hometown this Saturday. “I will sit down at the supermarket checkout with a Turkish businessman at Edeka in Wellesweiler, a district of Neunkirchen, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. and scan the goods. The sales that take place during this time will go to a donation account Turkey,” said Kuntz, adding, “Hopefully as many people as possible will buy from me.”
Kuntz attacked in his own time in the Bundesliga for VfL Bochum, Bayer Uerdingen, Arminia Bielefeld and 1. FC Kaiserslautern and led the German U21 selection as coach in 2017 and 2021 to the European Championship triumph.