Football Player Beats Cancer: Meet Marco Russ

Football player beats cancer, or meet the inspiring story of Marco Russ, the footballer of Eintracht Francfurt!

It happened almost exactly a year ago when online betting news in Germany started writing about the fact that we shall not see Russ on the field for a while: Frankfurt’s defender became a famous football player with cancer. Not the best kind: he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, due to which he had to give up on professional football during his treatment.

He played in the DFB Pokal Cup in 2016. After the match, Russ had to go to an official drug test to make sure he was not on steroids. The German Football Federation’s obligations might just save his life because thanks to the urine examination, it turned out that he was a football player who had cancer. Luckily it was found out on time and he could be treated properly.

From zero to Hero? The football player beats cancer!

One year from then, last week, Eintracht Frankfurt were facing Borussia Monchengladbach in the German Cup semi-final. Online sportsbooks in Germany expected ‘Gladbach to qualify but that’s not exactly what happened: Frankfurt tied and lasted until penalty-shootouts. In which they turned out to be the better team, so Frankfurt qualified for the DFB Pokal Cup 2017 Final.

Marco Russ was the fifth penalty-taker from Frankfurt and there was a huge pressure on him: if he had missed, Frankfurt would have been out of the competition. But the football player who beat cancer also beat the keeper and kept on Frankfurt’s chances, which in the end won the penalty shootout as well. Russ and his mates will face Borussia Dortmund in the DFB Pokal Cup Final 2017.