![]() ![]() The match began with a bang, after one minute of play, with no German having touched the ball, Cruijff made a darting run into the box and was brought down by Uli Hoen ess. The game was billed as the showdown between the two nations’ icons, Beckenbauer vs Cruijff. In the 1974 World Cup final Germany played the Netherlands, “the Brilliant Orange,” led by skipper Johann Cruijff. He also organized the team’s travel to the next match and shared command of the team with Schön. Beckenbauer accompanied Schön to the subsequent press conference and did all of the speaking. In the same tournament he came to the rescue of coach Schön who broke down after the loss to East Germany the coach was unable to speak and locked himself in his room. Here, a classic move as Beckenbauer shows himself to be one of the greatest attacking defenders ever.īeckenbauer had a massive influence on the West German side in the 1974 World Cup in Germany both as a player and an unofficial “assistant manager.” When the team threatened to walk away from their own World Cup because they were being paid less than the Dutch and Italians, he convinced them to accept the lesser pay. His amazing runs from the back defined Der Kaiser’s career. He finished the World Cup tied for third top goalscorer with four goals from his defensive position. ![]() In the future he would not again be told to stay back and simply defend. This defeat was integral in defining Beckenbauer’s true strength and import to the West German team. In the end Beckenbauer focused on his defensive role, did not attack in his trademark manner, and England defeated Germany to win its first and only World Cup. How much should Beckenbauer be held back?Ĭramer argued that having Beckenbauer simply mark Bobby Charlton-England’s best player-would be counterproductive because it would rob Germany of its major creative force. However, Dettmar Cramer, the West German assistant coach summed up the dilemma that Beckenbauer’s coaches faced early in his career: The position demanded that the player stay back, and mark the opponent’s star he was the last line of defense. For anyone other than Beckenbauer, sweeper was one of the most unambiguous positions on the field. In that year he was appointed coach of Marseilles and has since become a consultant to Olympique Marseilles, the US Soccer Federation, and a soccer club sponsored by the Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi.A Young Beckenbauer and a young King Ludwig II The 1966 World CupWhen Germany reached the World Cup final in 1966 the question was, “How was Beckenbauer to be used?” The dilemma the German team faced with the 22-year-old Beckenbauer speaks to the special role that he had in the team. As manager of the West German side, ‘Kaiser Franz’, as he was called, enabled his team to reach the World Cup semifinals in 1986 and to achieve victory in 1990. Beckenbauer returned to Cosmos in 1983 and retired from playing in 1984. In 1982 he came back to Hanover as West Germany's highest-paid footballer, and in the same year established his own charitable foundation. In 1977 Beckenbauer crossed the Atlantic to join the US team Cosmos. By then he had collected winner's medals in both the World Cup (1974) and the European Cup (1974, 1975, 1976). In 1972 his team won the European Championship and he was named European Footballer of the Year, a title he was to receive again in 1976. Beckenbauer played in the West German side that reached the World Cup semifinals in 1970, and in 1971 he became captain of the national side. Further consolation came when Bayern won the West German Cup in 1966, 1967, 1969, and 1971 as well as the European Cup in 1967. Defeat in the World Cup final, against England in 1966, was tempered by the unstinted praise of Bobby Moore, the England captain. His international debut for West Germany came in 1965. German footballer who became the first player both to captain (in 1974) and to manage (in 1990) a World Cup winning team.īorn in Munich, Beckenbauer joined Bayern in 1958 and made his first team appearance in 1963. ![]()
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