Franz Anton Beckenbauer is a German football coach, manager, and former player, nicknamed
Der Kaiser because of his elegant style; his leadership; his first name "Franz", and his
dominance on the football pitch. He is generally regarded as the greatest German footballer
of all time and one of the greatest and most decorated footballers in the history of the
game. Beckenbauer was a versatile player, who started out as a midfielder, but made
his name as a defender. He is often credited as having invented the role of the modern
sweeper or libero. Twice selected European Footballer of the
Year, Beckenbauer appeared 103 times for West Germany and played in three FIFA World Cups.
He is one of only two men, along with Brazil's Mário Zagallo, to have won the World Cup
both as a player and as a coach. He is the only one to win it as captain and coach: he
lifted the World Cup trophy as captain in 1974, and repeated the feat as a manager in
1990. He was chosen on the World Team of the 20th Century in 1998, the FIFA World Cup Dream
Team in 2002, and in 2004 was named as one of the Top 125 greatest living footballers
as part of FIFA's 100th anniversary celebration. At club level with Bayern Munich, Beckenbauer
won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1967 and three consecutive European Cups from 1974
to 1976. The latter feat made him the only player to win three European Cups as captain
of his club. He went on to become coach and later president of Bayern Munich. He is also
a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Today, Beckenbauer remains an influential
figure in both German and international football. He led Germany's successful bid to host the
2006 FIFA World Cup and chaired the organizing committee. He currently works as a pundit
for Sky Germany and is a columnist for mass tabloid Bild. He is currently serving a 90-day
ban from football for refusing to cooperate with a FIFA enquiry into corruption.
Early years Franz Beckenbauer was born in the post-war
ruins of Munich, the second son of postal-worker Franz Beckenbauer, Sr. and his wife Antonie.
He grew up in the working-class district of Giesing and, despite his father's cynicism
about the game, started playing football at the age of nine with the youth team of SC
Munich '06 in 1954. Originally a centre forward, he idolised 1954
World Cup winner Fritz Walter and supported local side 1860 Munich, then the pre-eminent
team in the city, despite their relegation from the top league, the Oberliga Süd, in
the 1950s. "It was always my dream to play for them" he would later confirm. That he
joined the Bayern Munich youth team in 1959, rather than that of his favourites 1860 Munich,
was the result of a contentious Under-14 youth tournament in nearby Neubiberg. Beckenbauer
and his teammates were aware that their SC Munich '06 club lacked the finance to continue
running its youth sides, and had determined to join 1860 Munich as a group upon the tournament's
conclusion. However, fortune decreed that SC Munich and 1860 would meet in the final
and a series of niggles during the match eventually resulted in a physical confrontation between
Beckenbauer and the opposing centre-half. The ill-feeling this engendered had a strong
effect upon Beckenbauer and his teammates, who decided to join Bayern's youth side rather
than the team they had recently come to blows with.
In 1963, at the age of 18, Beckenbauer was engulfed by controversy when it was revealed
that his then girlfriend was pregnant and that he had no intention of marrying her.
Perhaps as a result of the less permissive social values of the era, he was banned from
the West German national youth team by the DFB, and only readmitted after the intervention
of the side's coach Dettmar Cramer. Club career
Beckenbauer made his debut with Bayern in the Regionalliga Süd on the left wing against
Stuttgarter Kickers on 6 June 1964. In his first season in the regional league, 1964–65,
the team won promotion to the recently formed Bundesliga, the national league.
Bayern soon became a force in the new German league, winning the German Cup in 1966–67
and achieving European success in the Cup Winners' Cup in 1967. Beckenbauer became team
captain for the 1968–69 season and led his club to their first league title. He began
experimenting with the sweeper role around this time, refining the role into a new form
and becoming perhaps the greatest exponent of the attacking sweeper game.
During Beckenbauer's tenure at Bayern Munich, the club won three league championships in
a row from 1972 to 1974 and also a hat-trick of European Cup wins which earned the club
the honour of keeping the trophy permanently. Interestingly, since 1968 Beckenbauer, has
been called Der Kaiser by fans and the media. The following anecdote is told to explain
the origin: On the occasion of a friendly game of Bayern Munich in Vienna, Austria,
Beckenbauer posed for a photo session right beside a bust of the former Austrian emperor
Franz Joseph I. The media called him Fußball-Kaiser afterwards, soon after he was just called
Der Kaiser. However, according to a report in the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, this
explanation is untrue, though very popular. According to the report, Beckenbauer fouled
his opposite number, Reinhard Libuda from Schalke 04, in the cup final on 14 June 1969.
Disregarding the fans' hooting, Beckenbauer took the ball into the opposite part of the
field, where he balanced the ball in front of the upset fans for half a minute. Libuda
was commonly called König von Westfalen, so the press looked for an even more exalted
moniker and invented Der Kaiser. Beckenbauer's popularity was such that he
was included as a character in Monty Python's sketch "The Philosophers' Football Match"
as the sole genuine player and a "surprise inclusion" to the German team. However, instead
of actually playing football, all the "players" walk in circles thinking, much to the confusion
of Beckenbauer. In 1977, Beckenbauer accepted a lucrative
contract to play in the North American Soccer League with the New York Cosmos. He played
with the Cosmos for four seasons up to 1980, and the team won the Soccer Bowl on three
occasions. Beckenbauer retired after a two-year spell
with Hamburger SV in Germany with the win of the Bundesliga title that year and one
final season with the New York Cosmos in 1983. In his career in domestic leagues, he made
587 appearances and scored 81 goals. International career
Beckenbauer won 103 caps and scored 14 goals for West Germany. He was a member of the World
Cup squads that finished runners-up in 1966, third place in 1970, and champions in 1974,
while also being named to the tournament all-star team in all three editions. He also won the
1972 European Football Championship and finished as runners-up in the 1976 edition. Beckenbauer's
first game for the national team came on 26 September 1965.
1966 World Cup
Beckenbauer appeared in his first World Cup in 1966, playing every match. In his first
World Cup match, against Switzerland, he scored twice in a 5–0 win. West Germany won their
group, and then beat Uruguay 4–0 in quarter-finals, with Beckenbauer scoring the second goal in
the 70th minute. In the semi-finals, the Germans faced the
USSR. Helmut Haller opened the scoring, with Beckenbauer contributing the second of the
match, his fourth goal of the tournament. The Soviets scored a late goal but were unable
to draw level, and West Germany advanced to the final against hosts England. The English
won the final and the Jules Rimet Trophy in extra time. The Germans had fallen at the
final hurdle, but Beckenbauer had a notable tournament, finishing tied for third on the
list of top scorers—from a non-attacking position. The team returned to a heroes' welcome
in their homeland.
1970 World Cup West Germany won their first three matches
before facing England in second round on a rematch of the 1966 final. The English were
ahead 2–0 in the second half, but a spectacular goal by Beckenbauer in the 69th minute helped
the Germans recover and equalise before the end of normal time and win the match in extra
time. West Germany advanced to the semi-finals to face Italy, in what would be known as the
Game of the Century. He fractured his clavicle after being fouled, but he was not deterred
from continuing in the match, as his side had already used their two permitted substitutions.
He stayed on the field carrying his dislocated arm in a sling. The result of this match was
4–3 in favour of the Italians. Germany defeated Uruguay 1–0 for third place.
1972 European championship Beckenbauer became captain of the national
side in 1971. In 1972, West Germany won the European Championship, beating the Soviet
Union 3–0 in the final. 1974 World Cup
The 1974 World Cup was hosted by West Germany and Beckenbauer led his side to victory, including
a hard fought 2–1 win over the hotly favoured Netherlands side featuring Johan Cruyff. Beckenbauer
and fellow defenders man-marked Cruyff so well that the Dutch were never quite able
to put their "Total Football" into full use. Beckenbauer became the first captain to lift
the new FIFA World Cup Trophy after Brazil had retained the Jules Rimet Trophy in 1970.
This also gave West Germany the distinction of being the first European national team
to hold both the European Championship and World Cup titles simultaneously.
1976 European Championship In the 1976 competition, West Germany again
reached the final, where they lost on penalties to Czechoslovakia. Beckenbauer was named in
the Team of the Tournament. Beckenbauer retired from international football
in 1977, at the age of 31, following his move to New York Cosmos.
Managerial career
On his return to Germany, Beckenbauer was appointed manager of the West German national
team to replace Jupp Derwall. He took the team all the way to the final of the 1986
World Cup, where they lost to the Diego Maradona inspired Argentina.
In 1990, before the German reunification, Beckenbauer managed the last German team without
East German players in a World Cup, winning the final 1–0, against Argentina, in a rematch
of the previous World Cup final. Beckenbauer is one of two men to have won the Cup as player
and as manager, and he is the only man to have won the title as team captain as well
as manager. Beckenbauer then moved into club management,
and accepted a job with Olympique de Marseille in 1990 but left the club within 4 months.
Marseille eventually won the 1990–91 French championship and ended runner-up of the 1990–91
European Cup. From 28 December 1993 until 30 June 1994,
and then from 29 April 1996 until 30 June of the same year, he coached Bayern Munich.
His brief spells in charge saw him collect two further honours – the Bundesliga title
in 1994 and the UEFA Cup in 1996. In 1994, he took on the role of club president
at Bayern, and much of the Munich giants' success in the following years has been credited
to his astute management. Following the club's decision to change from an association to
a limited company, he has been chairman of the advisory board since the beginning of
2002. In 1998, he became vice-president of the German
Football Association. At the end of the 1990s, Beckenbauer headed the successful bid by Germany
to organize the FIFA World Cup 2006. He chaired the organizational committee for the World
Cup and was a commentator for the Bild-Zeitung. 2014 ban
In June 2014 Beckenbauer was banned by FIFA for 90 days from any football-related activity
for refusing to cooperate with an inquiry into allegations of corruption in allocating
the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar. He has said he now intends to work
with FIFA and expects the ban to be rescinded. Legacy
Beckenbauer is widely considered to be one of the greatest defenders in the history of
football. He is often credited as having invented the role of the modern sweeper or libero,
a defensive player who intervenes proactively in the offensive game of his team. Named European
Footballer of the Year twice, Beckenbauer was chosen on the World Team of the 20th Century
in 1998, and the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2002.
An icon in Germany, and one of only two men to have won the World Cup both as a player
and as a coach, Beckenbauer was lauded by former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder
for winning the World Cup as a player in 1974, winning as manager in 1990, and for playing
a leading role in Germany's success of achieving host status of the 2006 World Cup.
Personal life Beckenbauer has been married three times and
has five children, one of whom, Stephan, was a professional footballer. After appearing
in an ad for a big mobile phone company, Beckenbauer specifically requested the number 0176 / 666666
for his mobile phone. However, he soon was flooded with phone calls by men who thought
it was a phone sex number. Career statistics
Club statistics
International statistics National team statistics
Franz Beckenbauer at National-Football-Teams.com International goals
Scores and results table. Germany's goal tally first:
Coaching statistics As of 22 January 2014
Honours Player
Bayern Munich Bundesliga: 1968–69, 1971–72, 1972–73,
1973–74 DFB-Pokal: 1965–66, 1967–68, 1968–69,
1970–71 European Cup: 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1966–67 Intercontinental Cup: 1976
Hamburger SV Bundesliga: 1981–82
New York Cosmos North American Soccer League: 1977, 1978,
1980 Trans-Atlantic Cup: 1980, 1983
West Germany FIFA World Cup: 1974
UEFA European Championship: 1972 Manager
West Germany FIFA World Cup: 1990
Marseille Ligue 1: 1990–91
Bayern Munich Bundesliga: 1993–94
UEFA Cup: 1995–96 Individual
Ballon d'Or: 1972, 1976 FIFA Presidential Award: 2012
UEFA President's Award: 2013 FIFA Order of Merit: 1984
FIFA Centennial Player and Football Personality Award: 2004
Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award: 2007 Marca Leyenda: 2012
World Cup Young Player of the Tournament: 1966
World Cup Silver Ball: 1974 FIFA World Cup All-Time Team: 1994
FIFA 100: 2004 World Cup Team of the Tournament: 1966, 1970,
1974 Regionalliga Süd: 1965
UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament: 1972, 1976 German Footballer of the Year: 1966, 1968,
1974, 1976 NASL Most Valuable Player Award: 1977
World Soccer Magazine Player of the Year: 1972, 1976
FIFA World Cup All-Time Team: 1994 ‏World Team of the 20th Century: 1998
FIFA World Cup Dream Team: 2002 Civil
Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany: 1976
Bavarian Order of Merit: 1982 Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Federal Republic
of Germany: 1986 Honorary Golden Coin of the City of Munich:
1995 Honorary Doctor of the National Sports Academy:
2004 Commanders' Cross of Merit of the Federal
Republic of Germany: 2006 Lower Saxon Merit 1st Class: 2008
Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia: 2009
Honorary consul of the Republic of Kosovo: 2011
See also List of UEFA Cup winning managers
References
Bibliography Hesse-Lichtenberger, Ulrich. Tor! The Story
of German Football. WSC Books. ISBN 0-9540134-3-3. External links
Franz Beckenbauer Foundation Facts on Beckenbauer
Franz Beckenbauer at fussballdaten.de Portrait of Franz Beckenbauer