THE DEATH of Franz Beckenbauer demonstrates the major difference between Rugby Union and Football. In the handling game, former players are encouraged to get involved in the game's administration, once they hang up their boots; in football, money talks, it is the money men who own and run clubs, few of whom ever played, who get to make the big decisions.
Much of the publicity around Beckenbauer in his playing days, certainly in this country, centred around his supposed rivalry with Bobby Charlton. In the 1966 World Cup Final, German manager Helmut Schoen was so afraid of what Charlton might do to his side, he sacrificed Beckenbauer's attacking prowess – which had played a major role in getting Germany to the final – and instead instructed him to man-mark Charlton. In the end, this meant neither player played a significant role in that game.
 |
Four years later, in Mexico, with England ahead, Sir Alf Ramsey took Charlton off, to save him for the semi-final. This move freed Beckenbauer from his marking role, to influence matters further forward, with the result, Germany came from behind to win.
In the UK, it is doubtful if Beckenbauer, once he hung up his boots, would have been allowed to have been anything more than an influential club manager. While Charlton, after a breif and unsuccessful spell as manager at Preston North End, had to be content with an ambassadorial role with Manchester United, Beckenbauer was able to move upstairs to a meaningful managerial role with Bayern Munich, and he was certainly far-more than a mere figurehead when he fronted Germany's successful bid to host the 2008 World Cup.
He was a major figure in the German game, both on and off the field.
As a youngster, he played up front – his intention, to play for Munich 1860, back then THE club in Bavaria, where Bayren were, to use a modern phrase: “the noisy neighbours.”
Then, aged 12, a Munich 1860 player slapped him during a game, end of love affair, and when Bayern came calling, he signed. His timing was spot-on, as Bayern climbed over their city rivals to become Number One in Bavaria, then in Germany as a whole.
By the 1966 World Cup, he, at just 20, was already a key man in the German midfield, a box-to-box midfielder, who also chipped in with some vital goals. He was still a midfielder in 1970, where his courage in playing on with a dislocated shoulder against Italy in the semi-final almost inspired a surprise come back for the handicapped Germans.
Four years on, and with the Germans hosting the event, Beckenbauer had morphed into 'Der Kaiser' – the on-field fulcrum of the national side. He had moved back to central defence, where he reinvigorated the centre-half role. Prior to the change in the Offside Law in the 1920s, the centre-half had been an attacking player, then clubs such as Arsenal and Rangers pulled their centre-half back to be an out and out ddefender.
Beckenbauer could defend, but, the instnicts of a midfielder were still there and he was more than capable of bringing the ball out from the back and creating – just as the pre-1920s centre-halves had done.
He is credited with getting the team back on-course, after they lost to East Germany in the group games in 1974, before again inspiring them to their come-from-behind win over Johan Cruyff and his great Netherlands team in the 1974 final.
It helped, of course, that the victorious German team included some wonderful players – the other Bayern stars, goalkeeper Sepp Maier, left-back Paul Breitner, striker Gerd Muller, and Uli Hoeness; the Borussia Monchengladbach contingent, such as Berti Vogts and Rainer Bonhof and Cologne's Wolfgang Overath.
This was a golden era for German football, Beckenbauer was a key man as the Bayern club lifted their first European trophy, beating Rangers in the 1967 Cup-Winners Cup final. But, greater success would come in the next decade, as Bayern took a hat-trick of European Cup wins in 1974-75-76, Germany, European Champions in 1972, lost the 1976 final on penalties, before winning again in 1980.
Beckenbauer wasn't involved in that 1980 final. He had, in 1977, allegedly to play off a huge tax bill in Germany, signed for New York Cosmos, where he linked up with Pele. He loved his three years in New York, before returning to Germany, to win one further Bundesliga title, with Hamburg, in 1982. He went back for one last season in New York, then retired from playing.
In 1984 Die Mannschaft – the German national football team – were in the doldrums, so, breaching the normal system, of appointing a coach who had come through the regimented ranks of German coaching, the German FA invited Beckenbauer to take over the national side.
He got them to the 1986 World Cup Final, where they encountered a force of nature called Diego Maradona and lost 2-3. Four years later, in Rome, Germany had their revenge and Beckenbauer joined Mario Zagallo, who also died this week, in winning the World Cup as a player and a manager.
There was a brief an unhappy spell at Marseilles, where the French players seemed unwilling to work like Germans, before he returned for more success as manager at Bayern, before moving upstairs, to eventually become Honorary President of the club, a position he still held at his death.
He was vice president of the German FA, when he secured the 2006 World Cup for his nation,
Beckenbauer married three times, had five children, four of whom survive him, while there were also rumours of a sixth child, born before his first marriage.
He redefined the centre-half's role, he led from the front and tasted a great deal of success over his long career. However, when it comes to discussions about the greatest footballers of all-time, it is the midfield play-makers and the strikers, the genius dribblers who dominate the argument. Beckenbauer is perhaps the only defender who gets a mention – although, the question is: was he really a defender, or simply a unique player who put his individual stamp on the game?
Prior to Beckenbauer, perhaps only Fritz Walter or Uwe Seller are mentioned as the greatest German footballer, after Beckenbauer – there is no discussion – that role is his.
No comments:
Post a Comment