Almanac Soccer: Auf Wiedersehen, Der Kaiser

 

 

Of all the memories I personally have of Franz Beckenbauer it is those at the 2006 Men’s World Cup in Germany that I found the most astounding. Beckenbauer attended every game bar the final group games played simultaneously. When I mean every game I mean EVERY game. A special charter flight got him from city to city, from stadium to stadium, from camera shot in the crowd to camera shot in the crowd. When friends and I were watching a game on TV or at the stadiums for the Socceroos games there he was on the screen(s) like Odin or some other Aesir Germanic god. A seat either side were also reserved for ‘Der Kaiser’, one for his wife at the time (he married three times) and one for his mistress. How could you not be in complete awe at some level.  This was when I got it. This was when I realised how much this man mattered.

 

Beckenbauer, who has passed away at the age of 78 this week, was the epitome of the power and respectable grace of German football. Born in post-war Munich and originally a supporter of perennial Fremantle Dockers-esque struggler 1860 Munich, Beckenbauer decided to join Bayern Munich’s youth system instead after a dust up with the 1860 Munich youth side in a tournament whilst playing for his junior club.

 

This was a time when the Bundesliga (formed in 1963) was in its infancy. After promotion to the top division, Bayern and Beckenbauer didn’t look back. Originally a midfielder, he was called up to the West German national side when only 19. In the 1966 World Cup as 20 year old he as much as a revelation as the English heroes, Eusebio, the North Koreans et al and was part of the side that lost to England in that most famous of finals. For his efforts (which included three goals in the tournament) he was named in the team of the tournament and best young player. In the final he had one job which was to eliminate Bobby Charlton’s influence in the game, something he achieved.

 

His rising star saw him already captaining Bayern Munich at the age of 22 taking the now Bavarian giants to the first of what is now 32 league titles in 1968. By the time the 1970 World Cup in Mexico rolled around Beckenbauer was a true on-field general serving the legendary captain Uwe Seelar. In the epic semi final against Italy, Beckenbauer broke his collarbone during the game but continued on with his arm in a sling. How did he even run? Italy would win the match for the ages 4-3.

 

By this stage of his career Beckenbauer had pretty much invented and definitely mastered the ‘sweeper’ role. The sweeper was a defensive player who sat behind other defenders cleaning up any mess made knowing which area to be in, where to put a boot in at the vital time. The role was for the most skilled and intelligent players who could read things before they happened. A role made for one of the football god’s prototypes. This role optimised the cynical yet efficient German tactics before it was removed from the national side in 2000 in what some saw as an act of heresy. He was the natural successor to Seelar and was named West German captain in 1971. A year later he led them to the 1972 European Cup.

 

Ballon D’or wins (the only defender to win it twice), all the trophies at domestic level, a go to for the German gossip mags, one of the best players in the world and someone who rocked an iconic Adidas tracksuit or football kit better than anyone. Beckenbauer was the coolest, admired and most influential German this side of the members of Can or Kraftwerk. Der Kaiser had everything….except a World Cup winners medal. In 1974 West Germany would host the tournament which would go down in history as one of the most memorable. With a side littered with his Bayern teammates they made the final but standing in their way would be the Dutch and their total football.

 

No one could seemingly touch the Dutch and their ‘clockwork orange’ system in the lead up to the final. Johan Cryuff seemed to be untouchable. The West Germans thought otherwise even if they had needed a water logged pitch to get to the final. Beckenbauer nullified the Dutch superstar much like he had done to Charlton in 1966. Despite going down 1-0 early to the Dutch they fought back and won a classic 2-1. Their first World Cup since 1954 and Beckenbauer etched himself into folklore lifting the cup in front of his home crowd in Munich.

 

A global superstar, Beckenbauer wasn’t the standard humorless German many liked to portray. He also appeared in the famous Monty Python ‘Philosophy Football’ sketch in 1972 seemingly bewildered by the surrounding events before one of the philosophers has an astounding realisation. He took Bayern on to three European Cups (now Champions League) in a row including a rare League-Domestic Cup-European Cup treble. The man was both a relic to be marveled at and a forerunner for football that exists to this day. After running down the clock as a player in the doomed North American Soccer League with New York Cosmos (winning the title and becoming a Studio 54 regular with Pele) along with a brief spell at Hamburg (winning another Bundesliga title) he was done as a player and was expected to ascend to football heaven.

 

 

 

Yet, this wasn’t the end of the story and probably the part where many of us first noticed Der Kaiser. Some 18 months after retiring he took on the role of coach of West Germany, a side now derided for some of their more horribly nasty tactics that got them to the 1982 World Cup Final. By the 1986 World Cup, Beckenbauer’s fingerprints were all over the team. His heir apparent and fellow Bavarian Lothar Matthaus played the sweeper role and was captain. There was a bevy of world class players with experience and guile yet he would lambast them in the press and always want more, the former legendary player adjusting to sometimes watching helplessly from the sidelines. West Germany would lose the final to the Diego Maradona inspired Argentina.

 

West Germany failed at home in 1988 Euros before heading to Italy for the 1990 World Cup. This is where many of us Gen-X types first saw Beckenbauer on our televisions where he had a receding hairline, natty cardigans and gesturing wildly to fourth officials. With reunification in the post and the Berlin Wall down it was a time of great healing and change in Germany as a whole. In a dour and forgettable at times tournament, West Germany were one of the few teams to go the attack. In the semi final against England luck smiled when they snuck through via a penalty shoot out. The final would be a replay of 1986, a half fit Maradona couldn’t get his side over the line this time and West Germany did enough to win one of the worst finals in history 1-0. Der Kaiser was now as a winner as player and coach, one of only three to do it in history to this day.

 

With his legacy even more assured he dabbled in more coaching leading Marseille and Bayern to titles before moving into administration. Even there he was peerless. His re-organisation of Bayern Munich into a publicly company turned them in to THE powerhouse in Germany if they were not already. He helped secure the 2006 World Cup for Germany ahead of bidders South Africa and Sepp Blatter’s insistence it went to South Africa. He was the epitome of class and authority, even someone who managers who loved to punch up like Brian Clough admired.

 

He loomed around Bayern and football picking up the slack. He was one of the only ones to throw support behind Australia’s doomed from the start 2022 World Cup hosting bid. Unfortunately the closer he got to FIFA the more questions came about his moral character that extended beyond his playboy lifestyle. Allegations were made on bribes, something he was never found guilty of initially and may never be found guilty of posthumously. With the house raids from authorities and claims that there were millions unaccounted for under his watch, Beckenbauer withdrew from public life and his powerful role slipped in to memory and perhaps myth. Health issues were claimed, not many believed it.

 

With his death another one of the icons of the sport is gone. One of the rare air breathers who changed a sport, who reached the top in whatever he lent his hand to be it playing, coaching or administrating. No one will ever forget the long and noble rule of Der Kaiser.

 

You can read more from Dennis Gedling Here.

 

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