THE EMPEROR OF GERMAN
Football: Franz Beckenbauer With the former footballer turning 72 this September, Ananya Das takes football enthusiasts down memory lane with the story of Beckenbauer’s rise from his TSV 1860 Munich days
Go around the streets of Munich and ask who is the greatest German footballer of all time and only one name comes to mind then – they called them ‘Der Kaiser’ or The Emperor. His name is Franz Beckenbauer.
Born on September 11, 1945, in Giesling, Germany, Franz Beckenbauer had no idea what he was destined for. For an average boy born in a place like Giesling who liked football and was seemingly good at it, he knew his focus should be on joining TSV 1860 Munich, a small club based in Munich where they drew their most fervent and zealous supporters from. The club would later go onto be one of the founding members of the Bundesliga, the present German football league but back in the 1950s, it didn’t seem so. However, things did not go as planned for the German. In an under-11 tournament in Neubiberg, a youth player of 1860 Munich punched young Franz in the face after a short altercation and he decided on the spot that he could not represent a club where behaviour like this was promoted. He then went onto apply for a youth membership at FC Bayern, known as FC Bayern Munich today. Little did the boy of 13 know then that he would go on to become one of the best players in the world, leading his country to two World Cup wins – once as a captain and once as a coach. How many players can say that for themselves today? Very few.
When he joined FC Bayern in 1959, he was the new kid who knew very little of the world out there. He was lucky to have players like Gerd Muller, the prolific scorer, the world-class goalkeeper Sepp Maier and Georg Schwarzenbeck. Along with these players, Franz was sure that he would make his name a household one. He quickly adapted to the ways of FC Bayern, he became a force to be reckoned with. Originally a centre-forward, like all good players, Franz could play almost anywhere. In fact, in his debut match for Bayern, he played a leftwinger and that was when Bayern won the promotion to the newly formed Bundesliga. Soon, it was clear that the youth team of FC Bayern was invincible and there was nothing anyone could do to stop the storm they brought about in every game they played. Their names echoed in every stadium they played, every house the match telecasted in and in every child’s mind – the names of the FC Bayern youth team echoed and it echoed loud and one name was to be found for sure, Franz.
In the 1968/69 season, Beckenbauer was named the captain of the team and led Bayern to their first Bundesliga title. Players defined him as calm and poised. He was the leader they looked up to and soon he became the captain of everyone’s dream. Franz Beckenbauer did not believe in playing for himself, he believed in playing for the team and the supporters. When the defensive line of the team was not working properly, he’d go and stand vigil and defended the team when the defender would push forward. He would look towards the midfielders when no one would. His creative abilities shone truly when Franz Beckenbauer took the ball and went forward and scored some marvelous goals.
There are many trophies that Franz has won over the years; the most memorable of course has to be the World Cup title in 1974 where they defeated the favorites –Netherlands in the final with a scoreline of 2-1. Beckenbauer and the fellow defenders played so well and man marked Johan Cruyff in a way that he never got to use ‘Total Football’ in its entirety. This, however, would not be the only World Cup he would win. In 1990, in what will become one of the ugliest World Cup finals, West Germany would win the match 1-0 defeating Argentina through a mere penalty. ‘Der Kaiser’ was now the only player after Mario Zagallo to have achieved this feat – two World Cup titles as a player and as a manager. Later, the German great would go on to win four Bundesliga titles, three European Cups and three Dfk-pokal titles with Bayern Munich. He also won two Ballon d’or in 1972 and 1976 and remains two of the only German player to do so after Karl-heinz Rummenigge followed.
The honours that he has collected over the years stand testament to the fact that Franz Beckenbauer was the greatest German footballer in the world. His brain didn’t work like the rest of the players. He was constantly reading the game he was playing, even when he was on the field. He was a prolific scorer, a versatile defender and a captain who played for the badge on the front of his shirt. Today, however, the decline of his name in the world of football is because of reasons not related to his sporting greatness. The charges of corruption don’t go away easily and Franz was not without his human flaws. But no charges in the world can ever erase the phenomena that Franz Beckenbauer was. A true emperor in his own right, the true Der Kaiser.