Franz Beckenbauer, widely regarded among the greatest football players of all time, has died at the age of 78. Beckenbauer was captain of the West Germany team that won the World Cup in 1974 and he later led them to the title as a manager once again in 1990. He is one of just three men to have won the World Cup as both player and manager. He also won the European Championship with West Germany in 1972.
Backenbauer won 104 caps for West Germany and over 400 with Bayern Munich. In his 13 years with the Bavarian club between 1964 and 1977, Beckenbauer was part of the Bayern sides that won a hat-trick of European Cup titles, now called the UEFA Champions League, in 1973/74, 1974/75 and 1975/76. He also won five German league titles and as many German Cups alongwith an Intercontinental Cup and a European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1966/67.
Nickname Der Kaiser, or “The Emperor”, Beckenbauer is regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time and came to master the sweeper role in defensive midfield, also known as a libero, a role that he is credited with creating. However, he was not limited to the trappings of his position in the field, and one of few defenders at the time who possessed extraordinary ball control and vision. Beckenbauer was regarded as one of the greatest tactical minds in the game. Apart from leading West Germany to the World Cup title in 1990, he also led Bayern to the Bundesliga title in 1993/94 and also won the UEFA Cup with the club as manager in 1995/96.
Born in Giesling, a working-class district of Munich, in September 1945, Beckenbauer grew up as a fan of 1860 Munich but joined Bayern’s youth squad. While Bayern are arguably bigger and more successful than all other clubs in the German top flight put together today, they were less fashioned at the time. Interestingly, he made his debut for the club as a left winger in 1964, when Bayern were stuck in West Germany’s second tier, having developed as a centre-forward in his years with the youth team. He moved to central midfield and helped Bayern gain promotion to the Bundesliga and in the 1968-69 season, took over as club captain. He went on to become an integral figure in the Bayern side as they won the top flight title in their first year itself and went on to complete a hat-trick of league victories.
Beckenbauer made his international debut at the age of 20 in a qualification match away from home to Sweden for the 1966 World Cup in England. While they qualified for the tournament and lost in the final to the hosts, it marked the beginning of a golden period for West Germany with Beckenbauer at the heart of it in central midfield and with the captain’s armband. They won the 1972 European Championship in Belgium before winning the World Cup title on home soil two years later. Beckenbauer’s status as one of the best players of the time is testified by the fact that he won the Ballon d’Or in 1972 and 1976 and finished runner-up for the coveted individual honour in 1974, behind Dutch great Johan Cruyff.
Beckenbauer left Bayern in 1977 to play for the New York Cosmos, famously led by late Brazil legend Pele until 1980. He returned to Germany for a two-year spell with Hamburger SV and then played one final season with the Cosmos before ending his playing career in 1983.
Post-playing career
The same year as he hung up his boots, Beckenbauer was made West Germany manager. Despite having no prior experience as a coach, Beckenbauer led the side to back to back finals in 1986 and 1990, winning the title itself in the latter. He thus became just the second man to have won the World Cup as a player and a manager after Brazil’s Mario Zagallo. France’s Didier Deschamps would later become the third man to do so.
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