See what "Beckenbauer, Franz" is in other dictionaries. Biography Biography of Franz Beckenbauer in German

Franz Beckenbauer was always accompanied by luck - the kind that only a truly brilliant player deserves.

His outstanding career did not end with his retirement from big-time football. He showed himself brilliantly as the coach of the German national team, which he first led to second place at the 1986 World Championships in Mexico, and then four years later led to victory at the world championship in Italy.

Perhaps no other football player has reached such dizzying heights in his career, which were also so tangible in achievements and victories. Beckenbauer was the first German player to play more than one hundred caps for the national team. As part of Bayern, he won every conceivable trophy in European and world club football, at the same time being awarded the title of best footballer in Europe.

But victories and achievements are not the only criterion by which the true greatness of a player and his contribution to the development of world football are determined. The innovative approach to the role that Beckenbauer demonstrated in the late 60s. with the support of then coach Chick Czajkowski, changed the face of modern football in many ways.

Beckenbauer took his first steps towards a brilliant football career while still a schoolboy in the club's children's team. Soon he moved to the youth section of Munich and became a member of the German youth team. And literally a year after his debut in the main team (Beckenbauer then played as a left winger), he was invited to the national team.

Moreover, they were invited at a moment that could have frayed the nerves of a more experienced player, not to mention a newcomer: the German national team was going to Sweden, where it was to play the decisive match of the qualifying tournament for the 1966 World Cup. The Germans had little chance, and nevertheless, they defeated the Swedes - 2:1. West Germany secured a spot at the World Cup, and Beckenbauer secured his place in the national team for almost a decade.

At one time he was named the best football player of the year in Germany and Europe. On the field, Beckenbauer was the epitome of grace and elegance. He combined the physical strength of an athlete and an amazingly sharp mind. His head worked like a computer: he instantly calculated all combinations, found opponents’ defenses even before they opened, and saw such potential scoring chances (for himself and for his teammates) for which the opponents were completely unprepared.

Beckenbauer spent almost his entire football career at Bayern Munich, where he played as an attacking defender. Some argued that he was wasting his talent. However, Beckenbauer believed that in the increasingly dense modern game, the attacking full-back position gave him the time and space to operate, allowing him to play to his full potential and influence the match. He was like a puppeteer in a puppet theater, whom the audience does not see, but who pulls the strings and controls the performance. And it must be said that the German and Munich national teams owe all their major victories to the modest Beckenbauer.

Beckenbauer never missed an opportunity to attack when one presented itself to him. It was he who scored the goal that inspired the despondent Germans in the match with England in the quarterfinals of the 1970 World Cup, after which the German team not only equalized the score, but also snatched a victory in overtime, which forced the reigning world champions, the British, to resign.

Shortly after his career ended, Beckenbauer was offered to try his hand at coaching and take the post of head coach of the national team, replacing Jupp Derwal, who resigned after Germany's unsuccessful performance at the 1984 European Championship. Beckenbauer did not have a coaching license and formally did not have the right to be called the head coach of the national team; he was called the technical manager of the team, but in reality it was he who decided issues related to the selection of players and the choice of tactics. Thanks to the coaching talent of “Kaiser Franz,” the German national team, with a rather inexpressive game, reached the final of the 1986 World Cup, “burying” the French national team, led by Michel Platini, who dreamed of the world crown in the semifinals. And Beckenbauer’s finest hour as a coach was the 1990 World Championship in Italy, where his team became the champion. After winning the highest football title, Beckenbauer gave up the coaching post to his former national team partner Berti Vogts. Currently, Franz Beckenbauer is the president of Bayern Munich and is a member of the organizing committee for the 2006 World Cup, which will be held in Germany.

Franz Beckenbauer became the first in the history of football to win the title of world champion, being first a player and then a coach of the German national team. And in general, football luck always accompanied him in everything, and he achieved everything he set his mind to.

He was the first German player to play more than one hundred matches for the national team (his achievement was later surpassed by Lothar Matthäus, who played 153 games and thereby set a world record). Twice, in 1972 and 1976, Beckenbauer received the Golden Ball as the best footballer in Europe. Together with his native Bayern, from 1974 to 1976, he won the European Cup three times in a row. In the final matches, one after another, the Spanish Atlético, the English Leeds United, and the French Saint-Etienne were defeated.

In addition, in 1976, Bayern also won the Intercontinental Cup, beating the Brazilian Cruzeiro. And even earlier, in 1967, Bayern won the Cup Winners' Cup, defeating the Scottish Glasgow Rangers in the final match.

In his homeland, Beckenbauer was a five-time national champion. Bayern have won the German Cup four times.

However, luck in football only comes to those who deserve it. And Beckenbauer's football career is an example of a continuous rise to the heights of excellence and the immense love of millions of football fans who admired his reliable, intelligent and elegant play. In addition, he became to a large extent an innovator in football, finding a completely special role for himself. During the years during which his football career continued, no one else performed the same playing functions as Franz Beckenbauer.

He is a Munich native by birth, and it is not surprising that his fate was connected with Bayern. But ten-year-old Franz took his first steps in mastering the basics of football in the children's team of the lesser-known Munich 1906 club. Only in 1959 did he move to the youth section of Bayern. Soon he was noticed by the coaches of the German youth team.

However, with true German thoroughness and foresight, dreaming of a professional career as a football player, Franz took care of another profession, just in case. In 1962, 17-year-old Franz completed an internship at an insurance company and could well have become an insurance agent. But just at this time, Bayern offered him a contract, and Franz, leaving the insurance company, focused entirely on training. The first football peak, albeit still very low, was conquered.

Beckenbauer turned out to be a versatile player and could do everything on the field, including playing on the flanks. In the first match for the main team of Bayern against the St. Pauli club, the 19-year-old footballer entered the field as a left winger. The debut was successful - Bayern won 4:0, although left winger Beckenbauer left the field without a goal.

In 1965, another debut took place - Beckenbauer, together with the West German team, went to Sweden to play in the decisive match of the World Championship qualifying tournament. In that game, having defeated the hosts 2:1, the West German team won the right to go to England for the 1966 championship the following year. And Beckenbauer secured his place in the main team of the national team for more than a decade.

Even then, together with the coach of Bayern, and then the coach of the national team, Helmut Schön, Beckenbauer was groping for his new, unusual role for that time. This was the place of a free defender, a “libero,” but his role was not only limited to “cleaning up” the mistakes of his defensive partners. Beckenbauer's versatility, and at the same time athleticism combined with excellent technique, allowed him to take on the unexpected role of organizing the entire team game and determining the course of the match.

Even then they began to compare it with a computer that instantly calculates all possible combinations. He found holes in the enemy’s defenses even before they formed, and launched an attack in that direction.

Later he received his famous nickname - “Kaiser Franz”. He truly was the lord and master on the field, the most important person of his team. We admired not only his unexpected decisions, but also the genuine artistry of the game. He moved smoothly, as if gliding, and as if not paying any attention to his opponents. And at the same time, he not only created, but also skillfully destroyed the offensive plans of the enemy, and did not disdain, if necessary, the personal guardianship of the dangerous attacker of the opposing team.

It must be said that his unusual role initially caused a lot of controversy and criticism. Some experts admired it, arguing that there is nothing simpler than Beckenbauer’s football, and nothing more difficult for rivals and imitators. Others believed that a football player of outstanding creative talent was only ruining himself by performing defensive functions. Especially similar disputes flared up after the famous final of the English championship, where the German national team fought with dignity against the English team, but still lost 2:4. Coach Helmut Schön was accused of keeping Beckenbauer in the wrong place.

But “Kaiser Franz” continued to play as he played, only even better. His role in both Bayern and the West German national team could seem surprising only because he was ahead of his time. But all further successes of both teams were largely determined by the role of “Kaiser” Beckenbauer.

By the way, he never missed an opportunity to score a goal himself. In the quarterfinal match of the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, the German team took revenge from the British for their previous defeat in the final, snatching victory in extra time - 3:2. The English, however, initially led 2:0, but it was Beckenbauer who scored the first return goal.

Franz Anton BECKENBAUER
Was born: 11 September 1945, Munich
Role: libero
Nickname: Kaiser Franz
Played for the following clubs:

Bayern (1959-77)
"Space" (1977-80)
"Hamburg" (1980-82)
"Space" (1983)

Trained:

Germany national team (1984-90)
Bayern (1994-96)

In 1972, the German national team became the European champion, winning the USSR national team in the final - 3:0. And in 1974, the captain of the German national team, Franz Beckenbauer, after the final match with the Dutch, won with a score of 2:1, raised the FIFA Gold Cup over his head. This is how he became a world champion as a player.

Two years after this triumph, Beckenbauer played his last, 103rd match for the national team. The time has come to say goodbye to our native Bayern. Like many other famous football players of those years, “Kaiser Franz” decided to end his football career in the United States of America, where interest in football was just then being revived. The American clubs that were being created were then real constellations of great names. Naturally, they attracted many spectators to the stadiums. In the New York club “Cosmos”, which Beckenbauer chose, Pele himself, who had already passed his prime football age, had a chance to play.

Beckenbauer spent four seasons in Cosmos and returned to Germany. In 1984, exactly ten years after he became world champion, the West German team failed at the European Championship. The then coach Jupp Derval resigned, and Franz Beckenbauer was offered to lead the team. True, “Kaiser Franz” did not have a coaching license, and therefore he was formally listed as the team’s technical manager. However, it was he who determined both the selection of players and the tactics of the game. Thus Beckenbauer began the path to yet another of his great achievements.

In the 1986 World Championships, held in Mexico, the Kaiser Franz team reached the finals. She was opposed by the Argentine national team with Maradona playing superbly. In the final, Argentina was successful – 3:2.

But at the next World Cup in Italy, Beckenbauer again led his team to the final, and again they were opposed by the Argentines. This time the German national team celebrated the victory – 1:0. This is how Franz Beckenbauer became a world champion as a coach.

Having achieved the highest success, he left the post of national team coach and returned to his native Bayern. Since 1994 he has been president of the Munich club. He headed the organizing committee of the 2006 World Championships, held in Germany.

The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) included Franz Beckenbauer in the top ten best field players of the 20th century at number three, following Pele and Johan Cruyff.

Player achievements:

World Champion: 1976

European Champion: 1972

German Champion: 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1982

German Cup winner: 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971

European Cup winner: 1974, 1975, 1976

Cup Winners' Cup Winner: 1967

Intercontinental Cup winner: 1976

Included in the FIFA 100 list

Coach's achievements:

World Champion: 1990

German Champion: 1994

UEFA Cup winner: 1996

The site uses chapters from Vladimir Malov’s book “100 Great Football Players”. You can read about all the heroes of the book in the latest edition of “100 Great Football Players”, published by “”, 2010

FRANZ BECKENBAUER

(Born 1945)

He played in the clubs “Bavaria” and “Hamburg” (Germany), “Cosmos” (USA). In 1965-1976 he played 103 matches for the national team of the Federal Republic of Germany.

He was the first German player to play more than one hundred matches for the national team (his achievement was later surpassed by Lothar Matthäus, who played 153 games and thereby set a world record). Twice, in 1972 and 1976, Beckenbauer received the Golden Ball as the best footballer in Europe. With his home team Bayern, he won the European Cup three times in a row from 1974 to 1976. In the final matches, one after another, the Spanish Atlético, the English Leeds United, and the French Saint-Etienne were defeated.

In addition, in 1976, Bayern won the Intercontinental Cup, beating the Brazilian Cruzeiro. And even earlier, in 1967, Bayern won the Cup Winners' Cup, defeating the Scottish Glasgow Rangers in the final match.

In his homeland, Beckenbauer was a five-time national champion. Bayern won the German Cup four times.

However, luck in football only comes to those who deserve it. And Beckenbauer's football career represents a pattern of continuous rise to the heights of excellence and the immense love of millions of football fans who admired his reliable, intelligent and elegant play. In addition, he became to a large extent an innovator in football, finding a completely special role for himself. During the years during which his football career continued, no one else performed the same playing functions as Franz Beckenbauer.

However, with true German thoroughness and foresight, dreaming of a professional career as a football player, Franz took care of another profession, just in case. In 1962, seventeen-year-old Franz completed an internship at an insurance company and could well have become an insurance agent. But just at this time, Bayern offered him a contract, and Franz, leaving the insurance company, focused entirely on training. The first football peak, albeit still very low, was conquered.

Beckenbauer turned out to be a versatile player and could do everything on the field, including playing on the flanks. In the first match for the main team of Bayern against the St. Pauli club, the nineteen-year-old footballer entered the field as a left winger. The debut was successful - Bayern won 4:0, although left winger Beckenbauer left the field without a goal.

In 1965, another debut took place - Beckenbauer, along with the West German team, went to Sweden to play in the decisive match of the World Championship qualifying tournament. In that game, having defeated the hosts 2:1, the West German team won the right to go to England for the 1966 championship the following year. And Beckenbauer secured his place in the main team of the national team for more than a decade.

Even then, together with the Bayern coach and then the national team coach Helmut Schön, Beckenbauer was feeling out his new, unusual role for that time. This was the place of a free defender, a “libero,” but his role was not only limited to “cleaning up” the mistakes of his defensive partners. Beckenbauer's versatility, and at the same time athleticism combined with excellent technique, allowed him to take on the unexpected role of organizing the entire team game and determining the course of the match.

But Kaiser Franz continued to play the way he played, only even better. His role in both Bayern and the West German national team could seem surprising only because he was ahead of his time. But all further successes of both teams were largely determined by the role of “Kaiser” Beckenbauer.

By the way, he never missed an opportunity to score a goal himself. In the quarterfinal match of the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, the German national team took revenge from the British for their previous defeat in the final, snatching victory in extra time - 3:2. The English, however, initially led 2:0, but it was Beckenbauer who scored the first return goal.

In the 1986 World Championships, held in Mexico, the Kaiser Franz team reached the finals. She was opposed by the Argentine national team with Maradona playing superbly. True, in the quarterfinal match with England, Maradona scored one of his two goals with his hand - this was that famous textbook episode with the “hand of God”. In the final, Argentina was successful - 3:2.

But at the next World Cup in Italy, Beckenbauer again led his team to the final, and again they were opposed by the Argentines. This time the German national team celebrated the victory - 1:0. This is how Franz Beckenbauer became a world champion as a coach.

This text is an introductory fragment.

From the book 100 great football players author Malov Vladimir Igorevich

FRANZ BECKENBAUER (Born in 1945) Played in the clubs Bayern and Hamburg (Germany), Cosmos (USA). In 1965-1976, he played 103 matches for the national team of the Federal Republic of Germany. Franz Beckenbauer became the first in the history of football to win the title of world champion, being

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German football has always personified coherence, discipline and the highest efficiency; it is not for nothing that the German national team is sometimes called a “machine”. And all because each of its players is a separate “gear”, which, through interaction with other similar “parts”, ultimately ensures a positive result for the team. Throughout the history of the development of football on German soil, there have been many excellent ball masters, but in this series, a football player named Franz Beckenbauer stands apart. We will look at his life story in more detail.

Brief information

The most famous athlete was born on September 11, 1945. Franz Beckenbauer was a defender in his playing role. Many experts consider him the creator of such a playing position as libero - the last defender in the defensive line who is free. But it cannot be said that he was exclusively a defensive player. The German was also an excellent specialist in combination football, as he quite often joined in the attacks of his squad.

Carier start

Franz Beckenbauer began playing football during his school years. His first team was Munich 1906. But he didn’t stay there for long and moved to the youth section of the famous Bayern team. At the same time, the athlete became a member of the country’s youth team. It is noteworthy that at the beginning of his playing career our hero was a forward.

A year after his debut in the strongest club in Germany, he joined the main team. It is worth noting that he was called to the main team precisely when it was on the verge of missing out. The Germans were facing a battle with the Swedish national team, and only victory was required from the former. Ultimately, she qualified for the 1966 tournament, and Franz Beckenbauer firmly established himself among the chosen ones for the next 10 years.

Personal qualities

It is impossible not to mention the characteristics of the famous magician of the world of football. Franz Beckenbauer, whose photo is given in the article, has always been distinguished by his fantastic speed of gaming thinking. As a player, he organically mixed grace and aristocracy with physical strength and the ability to adapt to the situation. Many noted the German’s ability to see the field at all 360 degrees. Thanks to this, he was amazingly able to calculate game moves and create scoring chances not only for himself, but also for his teammates. It is also important that Franz was a true leader not only directly on the field, but also beyond it. Quite often situations arose when he could raise his voice at one of his partners if, in his opinion, they were not playing, but were simply walking around during the match, serving, as they say, a number.

Gaming experience

As a footballer, Franz Beckenbauer played in several clubs. In 1965, he wore the Bayern uniform for the first time, for which he eventually played 427 matches. During the same period, he scored 60 goals. As a player of this club, the athlete won the German championship five times, won the national Cup four times, was a three-time champion of the European Cup, won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and the Intercontinental Cup once each.

In 1977, Franz not only changed the club, he moved to the other side of the world and became a player for the New York Cosmos team. In the USA, he wins the local league three times. And in 1980 he again found himself on his native land, but in a new club for himself - Hamburg. With this football armada in 1982, he took gold in the German championship.

Beckenbauer’s relationship with the German national team also worked out well. In total, he played 103 games for the main team, and in fifty of them he was captain. Managed to score 14 goals. In 1974, the German football genius became the world champion, and in 1972, the European champion. Moreover, after this tournament he was recognized as the best player on the continent.

Coaching activities

Franz Beckenbauer, whose biography is full of many bright events, tried his hand at coaching at the European Championships in 1986. Formally, he did not have the right to coach then, since he did not have the appropriate license, so his position was called “team technical manager.” However, in reality, it was he who led the team to the final of the tournament, beating a fairly strong French team in the semi-finals. But the German’s real finest hour can be considered his triumph at the 1990 world championship, when Germany beat Argentina in the final with its outstanding captain of those times, Diego Maradona.

Franz was also a member of the committee involved in organizing and holding the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In February 2002, he became chairman of the board of the joint-stock company FC Bayern.

Just the facts

Beckenbauer is the father of five children. He has three marriages behind him. The living football legend actively appears in advertisements for beer, cellular operators, and sporting goods. Franz is included in the top ten most outstanding players in the world during the 20th century at number three, ahead of him only Pele and Cruyff.

Franz Beckenbauer is the only person to win the World Cup both as a player and as a coach. The list of his achievements is generally unique. He captained the German national team when they won the World Cup and European Championship. He led his club, Bayern Munich, to three consecutive European Cup victories and one in the European Cup Winners' Cup. A young boy from a working-class area of Munich became the brightest symbol not only of Bayern and the German national team, but of all German football. He not only won a lot of trophies, the main thing is that he laid the foundation for a new German style.

"He was a puppeteer"

Longtime fans remember Beckenbauer not only for his medals and trophies. Rather, thanks to his style and genius. His every move on the field was filled with elegance. Due to some arrogance in the game, he was given the nickname "Emperor Franz" or simply "Kaiser".

But most importantly, he was a thinking football player, and thanks to him, a new role appeared on the field - “sweeper” or libero. "Kaiser" played behind the defensive line, led the team from the rear, but at the same time went on the attack with the team. It was in his nature to move forward; he simply could not stay behind.

Spectators had never seen powerful long passes from the center of defense to the attack line before. Before this, no one thought that a defender could even cross the middle of the field, let alone score a goal. Beckenbauer created this tactical move and bequeathed it to future generations of players. It contained an element of surprise, and this became its calling card.

Keir Radnedge wrote in Football: The Complete Encyclopedia: "He was the puppet master behind the scenes, pulling the strings that brought West Germany and Bayern trophy after trophy."

Choosing a path

Beckenbauer was born in the ruins of post-war Germany on September 11, 1945 in Munich. The son of a post depot general manager, he began his career at the age of nine with the Munich 06 youth team before moving to Bayern in 1958. Three years later, he quit his job as a trainee insurance agent to become a professional footballer. He made his debut for the club at left back in a match against St. Pauli on June 6, 1964.

Now Beckenbauer is already a legend, but, oddly enough, everything could have turned out differently in his career. Our whole life is a chain of some kind of accidents. Before young Franz left the Giesing district of Munich to turn the football world on its head, he was hit in the ear by an opposing player in a Munich 06 match against the Munich 1860 youth squad. This greatly hurt him and forced him to choose Bavaria for himself, and not the then more popular 1860. His subsequent successes in Bavaria leave no doubt that this choice was correct. Although at that time Bavaria was not the formidable European machine that it is today. It didn’t even find a place in the Bundesliga, which was created in 1963.

A year later he was invited to the German national team. His first game in the national team was a match that was a serious test of the nervous system of even experienced players, not to mention a young 20-year-old guy: a decisive World Cup qualifying game away in Sweden. Beckenbauer demonstrated a composure inappropriate for his age and after this meeting woke up famous. Germany won 2-1 and qualified for the 1966 World Cup in England.

Franz did not yet know that this victory was the start of the legendary confrontation between England and West Germany, the last round of which, on November 19, 2013, was left to the Germans.

World Championship 1966

Already in his first match at the World Cup, Beckenbauer made it clear what to expect from him in the future, scoring two goals in a match in which Germany defeated the Swiss 5:0. Then there was a goalless draw with Argentina, and then a 2:1 victory over the Spaniards, after which the German team made it to the quarterfinals.

There, Germany met with the Uruguay national team, which had two players sent off during the match, and Beckenbauer scored another goal. Germany won 4:0 and met the USSR national team in the semifinals. Beckenbauer scores a goal for Lev Yashin with a powerful strike from outside the penalty area, and the Germans, winning 2:1, advance to the final.

In the final game, Beckenbauer was assigned to take care of the main English figure, Bobby Charlton. The young footballer followed him around Wembley. It was a battle of wits. Charlton was the player the Germans feared most, and Beckenbauer himself admitted many years later: "England won simply because Bobby Charlton was a little better than me in 1966."

England won 4-2 after extra time, with Geoff Hurst scoring a hat-trick. The result was a huge disappointment for the ambitious young footballer, but it was only the first of three World Cups in which he would play. And he managed to take revenge.

Today, the great Kaiser looks at that defeat from a wiser perspective: “Taking second place in the World Championship is not so bad for a young player.”

The birth of the libero

In Bavaria, where Beckenbauer returned after the World Cup, things were looking up. The team won back-to-back German Cups in 1966 and 1967 and in that final year won their first European trophy, the European Cup Winners' Cup, beating Glasgow Rangers 1-0 in the final.

By this time, Beckenbauer had become captain of a team that had emerged in the late sixties as very talented and was already preparing for the battle for European dominance. Besides Beckenbauer, the other two outstanding players for Bayern were goalkeeper Sepp Maier and center forward Gerd Müller, nicknamed "Der Bomber".

In 1968, Beckenbauer took his first revenge for defeat in the World Cup final, scoring the goal that gave Germany its first ever victory over England. He developed his success at club level, leading Bayern to their first Bundesliga title in 1969.

It was during this period in the late sixties that Beckenbauer began to experiment with the tactics of attacking raids starting from the center of defense. He admired the way tall Inter and Italy left-back Giacinto Facchetti made shuttle runs down the flank and wanted to adapt his method in midfield.

The beauty of this innovation was that the libero role became an ideal launching pad for attacks, since he had no clear position on the field, could lurk in the defense and burst forward at the right moment. Bayern quickly learned the value of such tactics, but national team coach Helmut Schön was more cautious. Despite Beckenbauer's requests, he did not allow the national team to play with a libero until the final part of the 1972 European Championship.

World Championship 1970

Before that, there was the World Cup in Mexico in 1970, which Germany did not win, but took part in the most dramatic match of the tournament - against the England team.

The Germans reached the quarter-finals by winning all three of their group games (2:1 against Morocco, 5:2 against Bulgaria and 3:1 against Peru). England, in turn, lost 0:1 to Brazil in a tense match. Many thought that most of the English energy was spent on this game. In addition, the islanders lost their goalkeeper Gordon Banks, the best in the world at that time, and Chelsea goalkeeper Peter Bonetti took his place in the frame.

Despite this, England quickly took an early 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Alan Mullery and Martin Peters and appeared to have one foot in the semi-finals. At that moment, the direction of the game turned sharply in the opposite direction, and the man responsible for this was Beckenbauer. Franz went forward, was the first to catch the rebounded ball and sent it low into the left corner of the goal. Bonetti reacted late to make the score 2:1.

This was the beginning of a nightmare for Bonetti. Moreover, earlier England coach Alf Ramsay took Bobby Charlton off the field, wanting to give him a rest before the semi-final, and put Colin Bell in his place.

A little later, national team veteran Uwe Seeler equalized the score, heading the ball in an arc over Bonetti. And in extra time, Gerd Müller, who later finished the tournament with 10 goals, completed the British torment by scoring a “control goal.”

Revenge for the defeat in the World Cup final was sweet, but the joy was short-lived. In the semifinals with the Italians, Beckenbauer still entered the field with a dislocated shoulder and played with his arm in a sling. However, his dedication did not help the team: Italy won 4:3 after a penalty shootout, and the Germans ultimately won only bronze medals.

Despite the setback, Beckenbauer still has fond memories of Mexico. “There was a great tournament in 1970. The fans were fanatical and stadium security was not as strict in those days. Fans could do almost whatever they wanted. There was only one armed policeman who sat at the entrance and watched everything around. Obviously, this is unthinkable today. The games in Mexico City were colorful. The country laughed and danced, enjoying football,” he recalls.

Trophies, awards, cups...

In 1971, already captain of the national team, Franz Beckenbauer finally managed to carry out his experiment in the national team. At the European Championships in 1972, he played a classic libero and was the player through whom the whole game was played. This paid off, and West Germany won the trophy, defeating the USSR in the final with a score of 3:0. Beckenbauer was then voted footballer of the year.

This marked the beginning of a period of extraordinary success for Beckenbauer. Bayern, led by him, won three consecutive German championships and three consecutive European Cups, defeating Atlético Madrid 4-0 in 1974 in a replay after a 1-1 draw, then beating Leeds United 2-0 in 1975 and finally beating Saint-Etienne 1-0 in 1976. By the way, Bayern also won the Club World Cup in 1976, defeating Brazilian champion Cruzeiro with a total score of 2:0.

World Championship 1974

But the peak of Beckenbauer’s achievements as captain of his country’s national team was the victory at the World Cup in his native Munich in 1974.

Germany finished only second in the group, losing 0-1 to its eastern neighbor East Germany.

Back then everyone was talking about “total football”. The Dutch, captained by Johan Cruyff, scored 14 goals and conceded only one in six matches en route to the final. Now they were ready to fight Germany. Around the world, this game was presented as a confrontation between the two best players in the world - Beckenbauer versus Cruyff. The main question was whether the Germans could neutralize Johan. This task was entrusted to Berti Vogts.

The start was sensational. Already in the second minute, Vogts stopped Cruyff rushing forward in the penalty area with a violation of the rules. Johan Neeskens clearly converted the penalty – 1:0. For the next twenty-five minutes of the game, the Dutch did whatever they wanted with the stunned German team, but practically failed to create a really dangerous moment.

This negligence in the game against the championship hosts cost them dearly. Germany first equalized from the penalty spot (Paul Breitner) and then Müller scored the winner just before half-time.

Beckenbauer was recognized as the best footballer of the year and received this title again a little later, in 1976, after winning the European Cup for the third time in a row, although Germany then lost in the European Championship in the final to Czechoslovakia.

End of a player's career...

In 1977, he accepted an offer from the New York Cosmos to play in the North American Soccer League. He stayed in America for four seasons, winning the championship three times.

The flight across the Atlantic ended his career in the national team. From the moment he began playing overseas, he ceased to be considered as a candidate for the country's main team. In total, he made 103 appearances for the Bundesteam, becoming the first German player in history to break the 100-game barrier.

In 1982 he returned to the Bundesliga at the age of 35. After playing one season for Hamburg, he again flew to America, where he spent his final season in his career in Cosmos.

...and coaching career

Franz Beckenbauer hung up his boots in 1984. In the same year, he was appointed coach of the German national team, replacing Jupp Derwaal in this post. This was in some ways an unexpected appointment, since Kaiser had no coaching experience at all. However, his men won the 1986 World Cup qualifiers in Mexico, where he surprised everyone by leading an inexperienced team to the final, where Germany lost 2-3 to Argentina.

In Italy in 1990, everything was already different. Beckenbauer now had at his disposal a well-played and tested team, capable of going to the end and winning the championship. True, England (England again!) tried to block the Germans' path in the semi-finals, playing in regulation time to a 1:1 draw. But Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle missed in the penalty kicks to give Beckenbauer victory over his opponent Bobby Robson.

The final was a repeat of 1986 - again the Germans were opposed by Argentina. But this time, one penalty was enough for the German team to win the Cup.

Beckenbauer made history with a unique “double” of World Cup victories – as a player and as a coach. It is this victory, as a coach, that, in his own opinion, is the pinnacle of Franz Beckenbauer’s football career. “I would say 1990 was the most important year for me. There is nothing more rewarding than leading a team to victory while being their coach,” he said.

After gaining world fame, Beckenbauer headed Olympique de Marseille. It was a short and unsuccessful cadence. He returned to Bayern as coach in 1994, winning the Bundesliga title with them before moving into the club's management role, becoming its President.

Already in this post, he helped build a Bayern team that won every possible European title in one magnificent season, Jupp Heynckes' Bayern.

The echo of Beckenbauer’s “golden career” will resonate for a long time. No other footballer has achieved such heights in innovation and in the number of titles won as Kaiser.