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1. #Franz beckenbauer professional
2. #Franz beckenbauer series

Success continued at club level as he led Bayern to their first Bundesliga Championship in 1969. In 1968 Beckenbauer had his initial taste of revenge for that World Cup Final defeat, scoring the goal that gave West Germany victory for the first time over England. Two of the other outstanding players in the side were goalkeeper Sepp Maier and centre-forward Gerd Muller, the striker who was to terrify England, becoming known as Der Bomber. The won the West German Cup in both 19 and in that latter year won the first of their European trophies, the Cup Winners' Cup, by beating Glasgow Rangers 1-0.īy this time, Beckenbauer was captain of Bayern and at the end of the decade the club had a talented team which was about to launch itself towards European domination. The result was a huge disappointment for the young Beckenbauer, but it was to be only the first of three World Cup Finals he was to play in and he would have his revenge.īack at Bayern, things were looking up for the club which had only recently been admitted to the big time. Charlton was the player the Germans feared most and as Beckenbauer himself said years later: "England beat us in 1966 because Bobby Charlton was just a bit better than me."Įngland won 4-2 in extra-time though a Geoff Hurst hat-trick. His goal was stunning, a left-footed shot from outside the box which he bent round the Russian wall to beat legendary keeper Lev Yashin at the far post.įor the final against England, Beckenbauer was deputed to man-mark Bobby Charlton and followed him all around Wembley.

Again, Beckenbauer came from deep in midfield to score in a 4-0 victory.īeckenbauer was again on the scoresheet in the semi-final against Russia who were also reduced to nine men, one player leaving the field through injury, the other sent off. That match was against Uruguay whose indiscipline saw them reduced to nine men after two dismissals. They drew 0-0 with Argentina then beat Spain 2-1 to reach the quarter-finals. In the opening matches, Beckenbauer gave a glimpse of what was to come by gliding through for two goals as the Germans demolished Switzerland 5-0.

#Franz beckenbauer series

Little could Beckenbauer have realised that the competition was to herald the start of a series of epic battles between England and West Germany. Beckenbauer, however, demonstrated that coolness of temperament for which he was to become famous as West Germany won 2-1 and qualified for the 1966 World Cup to be played in England. The match - a test of nerve for even experienced internationals, let alone a fledgling 20-year-old - was a crucial World Cup qualifier away to Sweden. He was soon switched into midfield and within a year he had made his debut for West Germany. But they were soon promoted and when Beckenbauer made his debut in 1964 it was as an outside-left.

#Franz beckenbauer professional

He joined the youth team at Bayern when he was 14 and three years later gave up his job as a trainee insurance salesman to become a professional footballer.Īt that time, Bayern were one of West Germany's less fashionable clubs and didn't merit a place in the Bundesliga when it was formed in 1963. It contained the element of surprise and it became his trademark.Īs Keir Radnedge wrote in Soccer: The Ultimate Encyclopedia: "He was the puppet master, standing back and pulling the strings which earned West Germany and Bayern Munich every major prize."īeckenbauer was born amid the ruins of post-war Germany on September 11, 1945, in Munich. Beckenbauer both created and bequeathed this tactic to the modern game. Up to then, no one had thought that a sweeper had any job being in his opponents' half of the field, let alone scoring. Those powerful long runs out of central defence had never been seen before. But more than that, he was a great thinker about the game and brought about a revolution in the way it is played by inventing the role of the attacking sweeper. There was an arrogance in his play that suggested he was always in command - "Emperor Franz" and "The Kaiser" they called him. Every movement he made on the pitch bristled with elegance. Rather it is for the style and the genius. Captain of West Germany when they won the World Cup and the European Championship, he also led his club, Bayern Munich, to three successive European Cups and also to the European Cup Winners' Cup.īut it is not just for the medals and trophies that Beckenbauer is remembered. Munich, West GermanyĬ Munich 1906, Bayern Munich, New York Cosmos, SV HamburgĮuropean Footballer of the Year: 1972, 76įranz Beckenbauer is the only man to have won the World Cup both as a player and as a manager.