Germany football legend Franz Beckenbauer is best remembered as the man who revolutionised the art of defending as we know it.
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Often times in sport, there will come along a player who shakes things up and brings about sweeping change to the way the game is played. Former Germany footballer Franz Beckenbauer was, in many ways, one such player.
The man nicknamed ‘Der Kaiser’ played as a ‘sweeper’ or libero for both club and country. For the uninitiated, a sweeper was a defender who was given license to break the line and defend higher up the field.
Of course, this is easier than it sounds. Knowing when to step up and intercept play requires a degree of anticipation, intelligence and bravery all rolled into one.
In the late 1900s, almost every football team operated with a sweeper. And while the specialist role within the team has largely died out, the impact of those players can be seen in modern defending.
And of all the players who operated in that role, few pulled it off as well as Beckenbauer. He wasn’t just a fine defender but also a fine leader to boot. As such, he was a key cog of the teams he represented.
On the occasion of his 76th birthday, let’s look back at the career of the best sweeper the game has seen.
Beckenbauer’s first major tournament appearance came in the 1966 FIFA World Cup. He started every match for the West Germans, but what stood out was his prolific run in front of goal.
Beckenbauer scored twice in their first group game against Switzerland, which West Germany won 5-0.
He then scored one goal in the quarterfinal against Uruguay and one in the semi-final against USSR. He wouldn’t find the back of the net in the final, which England won 4-2 in extra-time.
Undeterred, the Germans came back strongly 4 years later in the next World Cup. They won all their group games and even beat England in the second round. They looked firm favourites but for their elimination in the semis in a monumental match.
The match between eventual runners-up Italy and West Germany was dubbed the ‘Game of the Century’. The match ended 4-3 in extra time but was notable for Beckenbauer playing with a dislocated shoulder.
A foul saw him suffer the injury but his side had already used their two permitted substitutions. Beckenbauer would play on using a sling for his arm.
West Germany won the European Championships two years later, and came into the 1974 World Cup as firm favourites. It helped to an extent that they were the hosts, but the team itself was formidable.
They would go on to win the tournament, beating another imperious side in the Netherlands. Indeed, Beckenbauer was key to the game – he man-marked Johan Cruyff so well that the Dutch ‘Total Football’ style never got going.
He was also impactful as West Germany’s manager. He led to the 1986 World Cup finals, where they lost to a Diego Maradona-inspired Argentina. They won the 1990 World Cup in a rematch of the 1986 final.
Franz Beckenbauer was, along with the likes of Gerd Muller, an instrumental part of Bayern Munich’s rise as Germany’s super club. He joined the side in 1964 and they would be promoted to the Bundesliga at the end of the season.
From that point on, their dominance only grew. After winning the second division title, Bayern and Beckenbauer would win the domestic league four times, also winning four domestic cups.
They would also win three straight European Cups, as well as the Cup Winners Cup and Intercontinental Cup during Beckenbauer’s tenure at the club.
Beckenbauer also became one of many players to join the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the late 1970s. He spent four seasons at New York Cosmos, where he played alongside Pele.
But it is with Bayern Munich that he is forever associated – and with good reason too. His time as manager at the club saw them win another Bundesliga and a UEFA Cup.
He also took over as president at the club and his astute management laid the bedrock for their future success as well.
Beckenbauer’s nickname came about due to a number of reasons. The first was that his first name Franz is similar to that of Austrian emperors. There’s also his impeccable leadership skills that saw him command defences.
Yet there are two main stories surrounding the origins of his nickname. The first – and more popular version – involves a game in Vienna.
Bayern Munich were in the city for a friendly and he posed for a picture alongside the bust of Franz Joseph I, a notable Austrian emperor. The media thus nicknamed him Football-Kaiser and soon just Der Kaiser.
This story is told by Beckenbauer himself, yet is believed to be untrue according to a story in German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. They claim that the nickname came about in Bayern’s cup final game against Schalke 04 in 1969.
There, Beckenbauer fouled his opposite number Reinhard Libuda and followed this by taking the ball in front of Schalke fans and balancing it for about half a minute.
And since Libuda was called Konig von Westfalen or ‘The King of Westphalia’, the media wanted another nickname for Beckenbauer. Hence he became The Emperor.
Regardless of the origin, it is safe to say that German football is yet to see a player in the mould of Der Kaiser. A true legend indeed.
