February 23rd, 2012 by Daniel Mason
When looking back at great World Cup defenders there is one name that stands head and shoulders above them all. A man listed 3rd in the IFFHS ranking of the best players of last century, published in 2004. I am of course talking of West Germany’s finest: Franz Beckenbauer.
Franz started as a youth player in a local German side as a centre-forward who idolised then Germany and 1860 Munich player Fritz Walter, who was a World Cup winner in 1954.
In 1959 Franz was fully aware that his youth team was about to be disbanded due to lack of funds, and like many of his teammates, had decided that they wished to join 1860 Munich. However, in the last competition his side were to play, they met 1860 in the final, a game which was far from friendly natured and Franz ended up getting into a fight with an 1860 Centre Back, and the ill feeling after this game convinced Franz and his team to owe more of a consideration to joining Bayern, which the majority ended up doing.
At the age of 18, in 1963, Franz was engulfed in controversy after it emerged that his then girlfriend was pregnant. Once it emerged that he had no intention of marrying her, the DFB banned Franz from the national youth side, a ban which was only overturned when German assistant manager Dettmar Cramer pressurised the DFB.
Beckenbauer made his Bayern debut in Germany’s second division against Stuttgart Kickers in 1964, playing on this occasion as a left winger. Bayern won promotion to the Bundesliga the following season, and soon became a major force, winning the German Cup in 1966-67 and the Cup Winners Cup as their inaugural continental silverware in 1967. Franz was handed the Bayern Captaincy for the 1968-69 and lead them to their first Bundesliga title, in the same season in which Bayern and Beckenbauer perfected the Sweeper or Libero system.
Beckenbauer also captained Bayern through the hat-trick of European cups from 1974-1976, which, I’m sure, you will agree is no mean feat.
Beckenbauer has spent the majority of his career under the nickname of “Der Kaiser”, translated as “The Emperor”. However, the origins of this term being used for Franz is unclear, with two origins being commonly cited. One which is actually retailed by Beckenbauer himself is that before a pre-season match in Vienna he posed next to a statue of Franz Joseph, an old emperor of Austria, and he was then apparently dubbed as “Der Fußall Kaiser” or “The Football Emperor”.
However, a report in a German newspaper gives a different story, stating instead that he got this nickname when he fouled Shalke 04’s Reinhard Libuda and moved before balancing the ball in front of disgruntled Shalke fans for 30 seconds, since Libuda was known as König von Westfalen (king of Westphalia), so the press searched for a greater name than king, thus leaving him known as the emperor.
Beckenbauer went on to play in the North American Soccer League for the New York Cosmo’s for four seasons, in which he won the Soccer Bowl (I wish I were the one who made that name up…) three times in 1977,78 & 80. After this spell he returned to Germany to play for Hamburg for two seasons, in which he won the Bundesliga title one more time, before returning to finish his career for the Cosmo’s.
He has the achievement of having been president, manager, coach, and player for the same club.
International level
For the West German national side Beckenbauer made 103 caps, scoring 14 goals. His international career began late in 1965 before he went to the World Cup in 1966, in which finals Germany were beaten to hosts England. He scored 4 goals at this tournament and was a joint top scorer from non attacking positions, which, for a player as inexperienced as he was at this level, is very impressive.
Beckenbauer returned to play a major role in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, where he was a major force in the German team, including the game in which Germany came back from 2-0 down against England to win 3-2. Germany finished the tournament in 3rd place after losing to Italy in the semifinals, in a game which is widely believed to be one of the greatest ever.
Beckenbauer finally won the World Cup in 1974, beating the much hotly tipped Dutch “Total Football” side containing the likes of Johan Cruyff. This victory made Beckenbauer the first captain to lift the new Jules Rimet trophy (since Brazil were left to keep the trophy following the 1970 games). Beckenbauer had previously lifted the 1972 European Championships after beating the USSR. This made Germany the first champions of both tournaments, a feat that has only been matched by the France side of 1998 & 2000 and the current holders of both cups Spain.
After retirement Beckenbauer took over the West German national team following the 1984 European Championships, and he proceeded to take Germany to the final of the 1986 World Cup, a game in which they were beaten by the Argentinean side and their talisman Diego Maradonna. Following this, he took his side one step further in 1990, defeating an Argentinean side in the final of the World Cup, making him the only man to have won the world cup as both a captain and a manager.
Franz later went into club management with Marseille and lasted one year, in which they won the Ligue Un. This was followed by two short stints as Bayern manager. In the first he won a Bundesliga title, and in the other he won a UEFA Cup. Following this success, he was offered the role of club president for the Munich club, a role which he held until 2002, when his role changed slightly to President of the Advisory board.
In 1998 he was handed a role on the DFB as vice-President, a role from which he chaired the organizational board of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, won by Italy.
His career earned him many praises including two the Ballon D’Or’s, four German footballer of the year awards, and even the young player of the tournament at the 1966 World Cup. Franz also found himself on the World Cup team of the tournament in all of his 3 tournaments and both of his European Championships.
On a rather more light hearted note, following his appearance in a major Mobile Phone Companies advert, he requested a private phone line. The number which he requested was 0176 666 666. However, due to the pronounciation of the number 6 in German he got many wrong number calls, thinking that his private mobile number was, in fact, a sex-line.
Written by Daniel Mason
