Franz Beckenbauer assets

Short introduction

Franz Beckenbauer is probably the most distinctive figure in German football in post-war history with three careers: As an active player, the “Kaiser” became football world champion in 1974, as a coach, he also won the World Cup title with the German national team in 1990 and finally he was as a sports official one of the central figures in the DFB and executive committee of the world football association FIFA.

Early life

Beckenbauer was born in Munich-Giesing in 1945, shortly after the end of the Second World War. He grew up in simple circumstances, his father was employed by the post office. The topic of “football” played an important role early on in the Beckenbauer house, because Beckenbauer’s uncle Alfons played for FC Bayern Munich before the war and was a member of the German national team. Franz learned to play football at SC 1906 Munich, whose training area was not far from the family home. At the age of thirteen, the young Franz, whose talent showed up early, moved to the big FC Bayern Munich. Beckenbauer should be closely associated with this association throughout his life. In addition to his sporting activities, Beckenbauer also trained as an insurance clerk.

Career

Beckenbauer’s career as a player was unique. After his early move to Bayern Munich, he played his first game in the first team in 1965. Many more in the traditional club’s red and white jersey should follow. He won numerous titles as a German champion and successes on an international level, such as winning the European Champion Clubs’ Cup with Bayern. He remained loyal to his club until 1997, then moved – partly for private reasons – to the United States, where he played for Cosmos New York for several years. After returning to Germany, he switched to Hamburger SV, with which he also won a German championship. It was not for nothing that Beckenbauer was given the nickname “Kaiser” during his active time and it was spoken of as the light figure of football. In 1983 he returned to New York, where he played his last active game.

After his active time, Franz Beckenbauer switched to the sidelines and took over the German national soccer team in 1984 as team boss. For years he formed a strong and competitive team that became world soccer champion in 1990. After Mario Zagallo, he was the second soccer player to become the soccer world champion, both as a player and as a coach. With this triumph he ended his work as team manager of the national team and worked in France for Olympique Marseille as a trainer and technical director and later also temporarily as a trainer at Bayern Munich. Since the late 1990s, Beckenbauer has primarily worked as an official and at a sports policy level, including as head of the organizing committee for the World Cup in Germany in 2006. From 1994 to 2009 he was also president of “his” club, FC Bayern Munich.

Career highlights

Franz Beckenbauer won almost all the titles that can be won as a football player during his football career. The absolute highlight of his career was winning the Football World Cup in 1974 after a gripping 2-1 final win against the Dutch team. As captain of the national team, the “Kaiser” was able to raise the World Cup in the Munich Olympic Stadium. Beckenbauer had led the German team to the European Championship title two years earlier, in the final Germany defeated the USSR 3-0. With Bayern Munich Beckenbauer achieved countless national and international successes and championship titles: In 1969 he became German champion with Bayern for the first time. He won his last German championship title 13 years later in 1982 in the shirt of Hamburger SV. FC Bayern’s international success was legendary, with Beckenbauer winning the European Cup three times in a row from 1974 to 1976.

Franz Beckenbauer also had great success as a trainer, above all, of course, the World Cup title in 1990. He also won the German championship with Bayern and also won the French championship title with Olympique Marseille in 1991. Due to his success, Beckenbauer is not only the honorary captain of the national team, but also the honorary president of FC Bayern Munich.

Famous quotes

Beckenbauer was never at a loss for a good saying during his time as a player and coach. His tactical instruction “Get out there and play soccer” is legendary, with which nothing could go wrong. But his trademark was the saying “Have a look!” With this saying, Beckenbauer presented himself as a confident person who knew exactly that he could rely on his abilities and talents at every moment and did not have to plan and think through everything to the last angle.

Amazing facts

There are also a whole series of astonishing facts about Franz Beckenbauer. So he lived in his adopted home Kitzbühl for a long time in the “Kaiserweg”, he probably didn’t deserve any other address. And Beckenbauer not only had sporting successes, but also stormed the charts in the 1960s with the hit “Good friends can’t be separated”. An anecdote is very special: Beckenbauer never got a coaching license and nevertheless led Germany to the world championship title, not just as a “national coach”, but in the absence of the ticket in the position of “team boss”.