Beckenbauer was one of football's three kings - a great who changed the game

08 January 2024 , 19:06

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Beckenbauer was one of football's three kings - a great who changed the game

Until Franz Beckenbauer invented the libero's beat on a football pitch, the only sweepers in town cleaned the streets or chimneys with a brush.

But the finest German footballer of them all didn't just conceive a new position which tacticians have adopted for nearly 60 years without ever matching its innovator's command of his orbit. When Beckenbauer tidied up at the back, his supreme elegance and majestic calm set him apart from every other player of his craft.

In a nation blessed by a 24-carat poacher in the box, Gerd Muller, and Lothar Matthaus threading passes from midfield like golden ribbons, Der Kaiser's greatness was one in a bullion.

Franz Beckenbauer, one of only three kings ever to win the World Cup as a player and manager, has died aged 78 after a dignified descent towards the sunset fighting the twin ravages of Parkinson's disease and dementia.

Only Mario Zagallo, architect of the exotic Brazilian class of 1970 – who passed away only 48 hours earlier – and Didier Deschamps, who lifted the trophy in 1998 as captain and 2018 as coach of France, can match his achievement.

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As a precocious 20-year-old, Beckenbauer revealed his gift for reading the game like an ordnance survey map at the 1966 World Cup in England, where he won the award as the tournament's best young player in midfield. Little did he know, when he was assigned to man-mark Bobby Charlton in the final, that England manager Sir Alf Ramsey had asked his kingpin to perform exactly the same job on Der Kaiser and they cancelled each other out.

Now, just 78 days apart, Sir Bobby and Beckenbauer have joined an unbeatable celestial constellation. As Three Lions songster and comedian David Baddiel observed: “Maybe this is a very profound example of man-to-man marking.”

Bobby Charlton of England (left) takes the ball past Franz Beckenbauer during the 1966 World Cup Final (Popperfoto via Getty Images)

But it was in his reincarnation as sweeper that the upright, refined stylist touched celestial heights.

Compile a dream team from the 1970s and none would be complete without Beckenbauer. Only Johan Cruyff, the greatest player never to lift the holy grail, came close to Der Kaiser's lofty standards, the Dutch master inventing a deft turn where the German maestro defined a whole new concept.

"One of the absolute greats of our game,” said Gary Lineker, whose England dreams were dashed by Beckenbauer's West Germany side in the semi-final shoot-out 34 years ago. “Der Kaiser was the most beautiful of footballers who won it all with grace and charm. RIP."

Franz Beckenbauer holds aloft the trophy in 1974 as Germany captain... (Popperfoto via Getty Images)

... He would win it again 16 years later as Germany boss

When the Berlin Wall came down, and the reunited Fatherland rejoiced, nobody was a more dignified standard-bearer for a nation's restoration of identity than the coach who led them to glory at Italia 90.

But if Beckenbauer was a godfather of German football, first lifting the World Cup in his home city 50 years ago, he was also a giant in Bayern Munich's history. His list of club honours as a player goes on longer than an Oscar winner's speech: Four Bundesliga titles, four German Cup wins, three consecutive European Cup wins, the Ballon d'Or twice and the Cup Winners' Cup.

Leeds fans will always dispute the legitimacy of Bayern's second European Cup triumph in the trilogy at the Parc des Princes in 1975. Beckenbauer was lucky not to concede a penalty for a scissor-tackle on Allan Clarke in the box, and Der Kaiser led the successful picket of weak French referee Michel Kitabdjian that Peter Lorimer's 'goal' was offside.

But there is no disputing the pedigree of an all-time great who won 103 international caps and played 582 times for Bayern.

Current German national coach Julian Nagelsmann said: “Franz Beckenbauer was the best footballer in German history. His interpretation of the role of the libero changed the game, and his friendship with the ball made him a free man.”

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Yep, he was some player. Der Kaiser was the best of enemies, even conceding he was grateful to hear the final whistle in 1966 because Charlton “had the lungs of a horse.”

Give our regards to Bobby up there.

Mike Walters