Former Atlético soccer player Gerhard Rodax passed away this morning in Traiskirchen, twenty kilometers south of Vienna, in a tragic accident, hit by a high-speed train, according to the APA news agency. He was 57 years old. The forward played a single season at Atlético, 1990-91. The rojiblanco club signed him for 200,000 pesetas.
Silver boot and Copa del Rey
He arrived at the Calderón after having won the silver boot with the Admira Wacker Moding, being the top scorer in the Austrian Bundesliga with 35 goals and being chosen as the best footballer of the year in his country. But things at Atlético did not finish working out for him. He played 32 games in which he scored 10 goals. But he left his mark. Fondly remembered by the mattress fans for his iconic always-bandaged hand, in his debut with Atleti he scored a hat-trick against Red Star Belgrade. Another of his goals was against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu, matchday 18 of that League, to close the 0-3 win with a header into the net after Alfredo’s cross. In his palmares, the Copa del Rey.
Enlarge
Retired in 1996 after passing through Rapid Vienna and returning to Admira, currently he was director of a tennis school in Traiskirchenaccording to the press in his country.