PHOTO: Bildbyrån
30-year-old Elena Sadiku is a great success as a coach in Celtic.
But the road to the coaching bench in the Champions League has been anything but smooth for the Malmö profile.
– That’s when it hit me. I suck at football, I have to keep my life, she says.
When Celtic lost the Champions League opener against Twente 0-2 last week, it was Elena Sadiku historic as the youngest head coach in the history of the tournament (including the men’s side).
But despite his young age, the road to coaching success has been long.
Sadiku’s tough time
Already at the age of 23, she was forced to end her active football career, after several knee injuries and operations. First a cruciate ligament injury at the age of 19 and shortly after the comeback another knee injury, which was all the more complicated.
– I remember waking up after the operation and then my doctor says: “Elena, now you have to stop playing football”.
But Sadiku did not want to give up.
– My head wanted more. Football is my biggest passion and my biggest love. So I gave it a shot, but pulled the cruciate ligament again.
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And this time the situation was even more serious. An infection after peephole surgery meant that it was no longer just a career as an elite soccer player that was at stake.
– I was operated on seven times in two weeks, I think. The doctors were afraid that the infection would not go away.
– Before the seventh operation, the orthopedist said: If this doesn’t work now, we have to consider amputation. That was how far it had gone. And that’s when it hit me for the first time – that I suck at football, I have to keep my life. It was really a fear that I was going to die.
“Not worth living”
The valleys after the career became deep. Really deep.
– I thought life was not worth living. All those horrible thoughts you can imagine I thought then. And that also makes me even more proud of where I am today.
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Today, she has moved on, and is rather grateful for everything that has happened.
– It has shaped me into who I am and brought me to where I am today. It’s sick to say that, considering how bad I felt and how bad my mental health has been.
Now she is making success from the coaching bench instead.
– I think it has a lot to do with my background. When I couldn’t reach my full potential as a player so… Well, it’s impossible to explain how heavy it was for me. So when I became a coach, that passion lived on in me, but that I would do my best for my players instead.
Elena about the future
But even if life in Scotland’s biggest club is good, the goal of the career is to reach even higher.
– I want to reach the top. I want to train the best players in the best league. And in order to be challenged, you have to feel a willingness to take on bigger challenges, and that’s something I’m willing to do.
One of those challenges is to one day coach a men’s team.
– 100 percent. It’s not because I want to prove that women can train men. Coaching women and men is very different. It’s one of those things that I thought would be very interesting to try.
If the management ask if you want to take over the Celtic men’s team, what do you say?
– Then I say: Absolutely that would be interesting. I don’t close any doors for either men’s or women’s football.
Celtic face Real Madrid in the second group stage match of the Champions League on Thursday, October 17.
Share the article to pay tribute to Elena Sadiku who has written Swedish sports history!
Facts: Elena Sadiku
Age: 30.
Born: Bocholt, Germany.
Raised in: Malmö.
Clubs as players: LdB FC Malmö (Now FC Rosengård), Kristianstad, Eskilstuna United, Hammarby.
Clubs as coaches: Beijing BG Phoenix (assistant coach), FC Rosengård (head coach for U19 and assistant coach for senior teams), Fortuna Hjørring, Eskilstuna United, Everton’s U21 team, Celtic.
If you feel unwell
In emergency situations or thoughts of suicide, always call 112.
This is where you can turn if you feel unwell:
Mind.se.
Suicide Zero – suicidezero.se.
Spes – the national association for suicide prevention and survivor support. spes.se.
BRIS – children’s rights in society. bris.se.
Save the Children – raddabarnen.se. Also for parents.
Alcoholics Anonymous – aa.se.
Friend on call – accepts calls from children and young people up to 25 years of age. durhavandekompis.se.
Fellow on call – can be reached at night on 08-702 16 80.
Friends – friends.se.
1177 – healthcare advice and information about the nearest psychiatric emergency department. 1177.se
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