GERMANY | BAYERN MUNICH
Franz Beckenbauer was born on September 11, 1945, in the post-war ruins of Munich. The son of a postal worker, Beckenbauer, lived in the working-class district of Giesing and started playing football at 9 years old with SC Munich ’06.
1969 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1982
1974 | 1975 | 1976
1972 | 1976
1974
Initially a centre forward, Beckenbauer loved 1954 World Cup winner Fritz Walter and supported his local team 1860 Munich. “I always dreamed of playing for them,” he would later say during an interview. However, Franz would never play for the club.
He had hoped to sign schoolboy terms with 1860. But, unfortunately, whilst playing in a tournament for his junior side SC Munich ’06, Beckenbauer and a player on the 1860 team came to blows. This enmity forced Franz to join Bayern’s youth team in 1959 rather than the team he’d hoped to join. It’s worth pointing out that in 1959, Bayern Munich was not the top tier club.
In 1963, 18-year-old Beckenbauer was engulfed by controversy when it was revealed his then-girlfriend was pregnant. He wasn’t planning to marry her, and the DFB suspended him from playing for the West German national youth team. However, he was readmitted after the intervention of the side’s coach Dettmar Cramer.
Beckenbauer made his debut for Bayern Munich in a promotion match against FC St. Pauli on June 6 1964.
In their first season in the Regionalliga Sud (“Regional League South”, then 2nd tier), 1964-65, Beckenbauer’s team won the league. As a result, it was promoted to play in Germany’s top-flight division, which is now known as Bundesliga today.
Bayern Munich soon became a dominant force in the new German league, winning the DFB-Pokal (German Cup) in 1966-67. The club cemented its place as a powerful side the following year by beating Glasgow Rangers to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1967. Rangers dominated the first half of the Cup Winners’ Cup but were outplayed in the second by a strong Bayern Munich. Roger Hynd, traditionally a defender, converted as a striker and had his goal disallowed for offsides. In extra-time, Roth scored on an individual effort when he took advantage of Rangers weakening defence to drive the ball into Norrie Martin’s net.
In 1968-1969 Franz and his club won their first league title; simultaneously, Beckenbauer began experimenting with playing the sweeper (libero) role. As a result, Franz helped develop a revolutionary new way of playing, becoming the greatest exponent of the sweeper position.
In soccer, the sweeper is a more versatile centre-back that ‘Sweeps’ up the ball when an opponent manages to penetrate their defensive line. This position is less rigid than other defenders who are designated to man-mark their opponents.
With his elegant yet aggressive style of play, Beckenbauer became one of the most prominent footballers of his era.
In 1969, Franz became affectionately known as ‘Der Kaiser’ to German football fans. During a match for Bayern Munich against Schalke 04, Franz performed ‘Keepie Uppies’ in front of the Schalke fans, following a crunching tackle on his opposite number, Reinhard Libuda. The Schalke player was already known as ‘The King of Westphalia’. However, the German press needed a moniker that embodied Beckenbauer’s superior talent, so they labelled him ‘Der Kaiser’, King of all Germany!
Franz was chosen European Footballer of the Year in (1972, 1976); he also came second in ’74 and ’75. He won German ‘Footballer of the Year’ in 1966, 1968, 1974, 1976. In 1999 Beckenbauer was placed third in the FIFA Player of the Century poll.
Beckenbauer won 103 caps and scored 14 goals for West Germany, playing at the World Cup in 1966, 1970 and 1974.
Beckenbauer’s first game for the national team came on September 26 1965, when Germany played Sweden in a FIFA World Cup Europe group game.
On two occasions, Beckenbauer led the German national team to victory at major tournaments. In 1972, West Germany won the European Championship, beating the Soviet Union 3–0.
West Germany hosted the 1974 World Cup, and Beckenbauer led his side to victory, including a hard-fought 2–1 win over the Netherlands team, which featured Johan Cruyff.
Beckenbauer and fellow defenders were able to man-mark Cruyff so well that the Dutch side never managed to execute their ‘Total Football’. Nevertheless, the victory over Holland helped ease the disappointment of losing the ‘66 final at Wembley and the 1970 Semi-Final to Italy in Mexico City.
There would be one last highlight for Franz in his international career. In the 1976 European Championship, West Germany reached the final against Czechoslovakia in Belgrade. The German team were favourites to lift the trophy. However, the Czech’s battled bravely, and the game ended 2-2 after extra time.
A penalty shoot-out decided the match for the first time in the tournament’s history. After three spot-kicks, the score was all square. Hoeneß stepped up for Germany; his shot sailed over the bar. Czech midfielder Antonín Panenka would take the decisive penalty; he took a long run-up, but as he reached the ball, Panenka abruptly stopped and slowly chipped the ball into the back of the net. Thus, the ‘Panenka’ penalty was born.
1977 was an important year for Beckenbauer; he played his last game for the German National Team and Bayern Munich. Franz line-up for ‘Die Mannschaft’ against France at the Parc des Princes, the game ended in a 1-0 defeat for Germany.
In the Bundesliga, he made his final appearance against Borussia Mönchengladbach; the game ended 2-2 with Beckenbauer assisting for a last-minute equaliser for Bayern.
Like many players of the era, Franz received a lucrative offer to play football in the United States. He joined the New York Cosmo, a club founded by executives at Atlantic Records.
The team attracted many big names such as Beckenbauer, Pele and Carlo Alberto. The New York Cosmo won the American League Championship with Beckenbauer’s help in 1977, 1978 and 1980.
In 1980, Franz returned to Germany, and he surprised fans by joining Hamburg. He played 28 times for HSV between 1980 and 1982. His last league appearance in Germany came against Karlsruher SC (May 29 1982) 50,000 fans witnessed ‘The Kaiser’ play 41 minutes before being substituted; the game ended 3-3. After that, he returned to American and played 25 games for the New York Cosmo.
In total, Beckenbauer played 584 club games and 103 times for the German National side. In addition, he scored 14 goals at the international level and 58 times in club football.
It could be argued that Beckenbauer enjoyed more success in football once he retired from playing. Beckenbauer replaced the previous German National team manager Jupp Derwall in 1984 and took a team to the final of the 1986 World Cup, where they lost to an Argentina team led by Diego Maradona.
In 1990, before the reunification of Germany, Beckenbauer managed one of the last German National teams without East German players to win a trophy. Nevertheless, they won 1-0 against Argentina in a rematch of the World Cup Final four years previous.
Between 1993 – 1996, he managed Bayern Munich and collected a Bundesliga title in 1994 and the UEFA Cup in 1996. The success at Bayern followed a brief time working at Olympique de Marseille in 1990.
In 1994, he took on the challenging job as club president of Bayern Munich. Under his guidance, the club has seen many successes over the two decades since. He stepped down from his position in 2009.
At the end of the 1990s, Beckenbauer headed Germany’s successful bid to organise the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He also chaired the organisational committee for the World Cup and commentated on matches with Bild-Zeitung.
Beckenbauer is widely considered to be one of the greatest footballers in the history of the game. In addition, he is the only defender to win the Ballon d’Or twice.
Pelé named him to be part of the FIFA 100 list of the world’s greatest living players.
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