The Austrian Gerhard Rodax, former player of Atlético de Madrid and Rapid Vienna, died this Thursday at the age of 57 after being hit by a high-speed train in Traiskirchen, south of Vienna, the APA news agency reported. According to reports in the Austrian press, Rodax suffered from a serious illness.
As a striker, he signed for Atlético in 1990, after a great 1989/90 season in the Austrian Bundesliga, in which he scored 35 goals and was chosen as their best player of the year.
With the Spanish team, he won the Copa del Rey in the 1990/1991 season, which was played at the Santiago Bernabéu and against RCD Mallorca (1-0). The striker came to defend the rojiblanca jersey on up to 33 occasions in which he scored 10 goals.
"Atlético de Madrid is in mourning for the death of our former player Gerhard Rodax, who has left us at 57 years of age," reads the statement in which the mattress club has expressed its condolences to the former player's family.
"Our president, CEO, the rest of the members of the Board of Directors and all the employees want to convey our most sincere condolences and we join the pain of the family. Rest in peace," he concludes.
Among his most remembered moments with the Austrian team, where he played 20 games, stands out a goal he scored in a friendly against Spain in Malaga in March 1990 and which decided the match for the Austrians, who ended up winning 3-2.
However, Rodax failed to establish himself in the rojiblanco club and ended up leaving Spain after two seasons, in which he scored 9 goals in 27 games.
On his return to Austria, the forward signed for Rapid Vienna in 1992 and hung up his boots four years later with Admira Wacker, when he was 31 years old.
Married and father of two children, the former soccer player was until his death manager of a tennis center in Traiskirchen, a town located about 30 kilometers south of Vienna.
