The German football player really was a phenomenon of football. He was one of the best player at his time. Franz Beckenbauer died at age of 78 in the city he was born, Munich. He was a true legend not just for his home country Germany but for all of football. Even though at his late life a lot of controversy appears around him, his career still is one of the greatest of all time. He is one of the very few players who won the world cup as a player and as a coach.
Franz Beckenbauer and his career
As a player he inspired a lot of boys and girls with is skills with the ball. His appearance and play really was very extraordinary. But not just that he helped the team with his type of playmaking. This lead to him winning the world cup in 1974. That is just one of all of his achievements. With Beckenbauer in the team, Bayern Munich became the first German football club to win champions of Germany three times in a row (1972, 1973 und 1974). The German played football actively from 1964 to 1983 and became trainer afterwards from 1984 to 1990. He spent most of his time at Bayern Munich where he was born as well at September 11, 1945.
His achievements don’t stop there. He won the Ballon D’or two times, was footballer of the year in Germany four times, won one European Championship once, the Champions League three times, the German Championship five times, the German cup four times, the world cup with Bayern once and the World Championship once and that just as a player. As a coach he won the world cup another time. That made him one of only three people ever to win the world championship as a player and as a coach. He also won the Champions League once, the German Champion nine times, the French Champion once with Olympique Marseille, the UEFA cup one, the German cup six times, the international cup once and the German league cup six times.
Football matches against England
There was a constant threat between Germany and England. It was always very exciting between those two teams. But once, when Beckenbauer was still a player, one of the most dramatic matches took place. It was in the quarter-finals against England after their defeat in the 1966 World Cup final. Things were not looking good for Beckenbauer and Germany. They were 2-0 down but staged a comeback to win 3-2. They then went on to play the epic semi-final against Italy, regarded as the greatest match of all time. After winning the final, Beckenbauer and West Germany became the first team to win both the European Championship and the World Cup at the same time. This happened when they won both trophies in 1972 and 1974.
Beckenbauer’s late career controversy
The German Football Association (DfB) was accused of making payments to the authorities to ensure that the 2006 World Cup was held in Germany. It was dubbed the “summer fairy tale” and after the accusations, Franz Beckenbauer was the only one in the DfB team to take responsibility for the “mistake”, although he always denied that any votes had been bought by bribery. The investigation focused on the €6.7 million paid by the DfB. There was a lot of pressure from the mainstream media, which affected Beckenbauer personally. The pressure came not only from the media, but also from friends and family. Some even told him to “just admit that it was his fault”. He was also accused of tax fraud in connection with the 2006 World Cup. All this pressure really had a negative effect on the legend.
Even though there might be some controversies, Franz Beckenbauer will always be remembered as one of the greatest footballer to ever play the game. His extraordinary achievements and his way of playing changed the sport forever. Rest in peace Franz Beckenbauer.
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