Early years

Franz Beckenbauer was born in the post-war ruins of Munich, the second son of postal-worker Franz Beckenbauer, Sr. and his wife Antonie. He grew up in the working-class district of Giesing and, despite his father's cynicism about the game, started playing football at the age of nine with the youth team of SC Munich '06 in 1954.

Originally a centre forward, he idolised 1954 FIFA World Cup winner Fritz Walter and supported local side 1860 Munich, then the pre-eminent team in the city, despite their relegation from the top league, the Oberliga Süd, in the 1950s. "It was always my dream to play for them" he would later confirm. That he joined the Bayern Munich youth team in 1959, rather than that of his favourites 1860 Munich, was the result of a contentious Under-14 youth tournament in nearby Neubiberg. Beckenbauer and his teammates were aware that their SC Munich '06 club lacked the finance to continue running its youth sides, and had determined to join 1860 Munich as a group upon the tournament's conclusion. However, fortune decreed that SC Munich and 1860 would meet in the final and a series of niggles during the match eventually resulted in a physical confrontation between Beckenbauer and the opposing centre-half. The ill-feeling this engendered had a strong effect upon Beckenbauer and his teammates, who decided to join Bayern's youth side rather than the team they had recently come to blows with.

In 1963, at the age of 18, Beckenbauer was engulfed by controversy when it was revealed that his then girlfriend was pregnant and that he had no intention of marrying her; he was banned from the West German national youth team by the DFB and only readmitted after the intervention of the side's coach Dettmar Cramer.

Club career

Beckenbauer made his debut with Bayern in the Regionalliga Süd ("Regional League South", then the second level in Germany) on the left wing against Stuttgarter Kickers on 6 June 1964. In his first season in the regional league, 1964-65, the team won promotion to the recently formed Bundesliga, the national league.

Bayern soon became a force in the new German league, winning the German Cup in 1966-67 and achieving European success in the Cup Winners' Cup in 1967. Beckenbauer became team captain for the 1968-69 season and led his club to their first league title. He began experimenting with the sweeper (libero) role around this time, refining the role into a new form and becoming perhaps the greatest exponent of the attacking sweeper game.

During Beckenbauer's tenure at Bayern Munich, the club won three league championships in a row from 1972 to 1974 and also a hat-trick of European Cup wins (1974-76) which earned the club the honour of keeping the trophy permanently.

Interestingly, since 1968 Beckenbauer, has been called Der Kaiser by fans and the media. The following anecdote is told (even by Beckenbauer himself) to explain the origin: On the occasion of a friendly game of Bayern Munich in Vienna, Austria, Beckenbauer posed for a photo session right beside a bust of the former Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I. The media called him Fußball-Kaiser (football-emperor) afterwards, soon after he was just called Der Kaiser. However, according to a report in the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, this explanation is untrue, though very popular. According to the report, Beckenbauer fouled his opposite number, Reinhard Libuda from Schalke 04, in the cup final on 14 June 1969. Disregarding the fans' hooting, Beckenbauer took the ball into the opposite part of the field, where he balanced the ball in front of the upset fans for half a minute. Libuda was commonly called König von Westfalen (king of Westphalia), so the press looked for an even more exalted moniker and invented Der Kaiser.

In 1977, Beckenbauer accepted a lucrative contract to play in the North American Soccer League with the New York Cosmos. He played with the Cosmos for four seasons up to 1980, and the team won the Soccer Bowl on three occasions ('77, '78, '80).

Beckenbauer retired after a two-year spell with Hamburger SV in Germany (1980-82) with the win of the Bundesliga title that year and one final season with the New York Cosmos in 1983. In his career in domestic leagues, he made 587 appearances and scored 81 goals.

International career

Beckenbauer won 103 caps and scored 14 goals for West Germany. He was a member of the World Cup squads that finished runners-up in 1966, third place in 1970, and champions in 1974, while also being named to the tournament all-star team in all three editions. He also won the 1972 European Football Championship and finished as runners-up in the 1976 edition. Beckenbauer's first game for the national team came on 26 September 1965.

1966 World Cup

"The message he sent out was: 'Don't even try it. Coming out to face me is a waste of your time.'

—England 1966 World Cup legend Bobby Charlton.

Beckenbauer appeared in his first World Cup in 1966, playing every match. In his first World Cup match, against Switzerland, he scored twice in a 5-0 win. West Germany won their group, and then beat Uruguay 4-0 in quarter-finals, with Beckenbauer scoring the second goal in the 70th minute.

In the semi-finals, the Germans faced the USSR. Helmut Haller opened the scoring, with Beckenbauer contributing the second of the match, his fourth goal of the tournament. The Soviets scored a late goal but were unable to draw level, and West Germany advanced to the final against hosts England. The English won the final and the Jules Rimet Trophy in extra time. The Germans had fallen at the final hurdle, but Beckenbauer had a notable tournament, finishing tied for third on the list of top scorers—from a non-attacking position. The team returned to a heroes' welcome in their homeland.

1970 World Cup

West Germany won their first three matches before facing England in second round on a rematch of the 1966 final. The English were ahead 2-0 in the second half, but a spectacular goal by Beckenbauer in the 69th minute helped the Germans recover and equalise before the end of normal time and win the match in extra time. West Germany advanced to the semi-finals to face Italy, in what would be known as the Game of the Century. He dislocated his shoulder after being fouled, but he was not deterred from continuing in the match, as his side had already used their two permitted substitutions. He stayed on the field carrying his dislocated arm in a sling. The result of this match was 4-3 (after extra time) in favour of the Italians. Germany defeated Uruguay 1-0 for third place.

1972 European championship

Beckenbauer became captain of the national side in 1971. In 1972, West Germany won the European Championship, beating the Soviet Union 3-0 in the final.

1974 World Cup

The 1974 World Cup was hosted by West Germany and Beckenbauer led his side to victory, including a hard fought 2-1 win over the hotly favoured Netherlands side featuring Johan Cruyff. Beckenbauer and fellow defenders man-marked Cruyff so well that the Dutch were never quite able to put their "Total Football" into full use.

Beckenbauer became the first captain to lift the new FIFA World Cup Trophy after Brazil had retained the Jules Rimet Trophy in 1970. This also gave West Germany the distinction of being the first European national team to hold both the European Championship and World Cup titles simultaneously (two other countries have done it since: France in 2000, and Spain in 2010).

1976 European Championship

In the 1976 competition, West Germany again reached the final, where they lost on penalties to Czechoslovakia. Beckenbauer was named in the Team of the Tournament.

Beckenbauer retired from international football in 1977, at the age of 31, following his move to New York Cosmos.

Managerial career

On his return to Germany, Beckenbauer was appointed manager of the West German national team to replace Jupp Derwall. He took the team all the way to the final of the 1986 World Cup, where they lost to the Diego Maradona inspired Argentina.

In 1990, before the German reunification, Beckenbauer managed the last German team without East German players in a World Cup, winning the final 1-0, against Argentina, in a rematch of the previous World Cup final. Beckenbauer is one of two men (with Mario Zagallo) to have won the Cup as player and as manager, and he is the only man to have won the title as team captain as well as manager.

Beckenbauer then moved into club management, and accepted a job with Olympique de Marseille in 1990 but left the club within 4 months. Marseille eventually won the 1990-91 French championship and ended runner-up of the 1990-91 European Cup.

From 28 December 1993 until 30 June 1994, and then from 29 April 1996 until 30 June of the same year, he managed Bayern Munich. His brief spells in charge saw him collect two further honours - the Bundesliga title in 1994 and the UEFA Cup in 1996.

In 1994, he took on the role of club president at Bayern, and much of the success in the following years has been credited to his astute management. Following the club's decision to change from an association to a limited company, he has been chairman of the advisory board since the beginning of 2002.

In 1998, he became vice-president of the German Football Association. At the end of the 1990s, Beckenbauer headed the successful bid by Germany to organize the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He chaired the organizational committee for the World Cup and was a commentator for the Bild-Zeitung.

FIFA inquiries and ban

In June 2014, Beckenbauer was banned by FIFA Ethics Committee for 90 days from any football-related activity for allegedly refusing to cooperate with an inquiry into corruption dealing with the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar. He protested the ban, as he had requested the questions that were put to him be in German and in writing. The ban was lifted after Beckenbauer agreed to participate in FIFA's inquiry. In February 2016, Beckenbauer was fined CHF 7,000 and warned by FIFA Ethics Committee for failing to cooperate with the inquiry in 2014.

In March 2016, the Ethics Committee opened formal proceedings against Beckenbauer regarding the awarding of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Legacy

"Franz Beckenbauer symbolises football and a winning mentality. On top of that, he brought the World Cup to his own country. We're proud of him."

—German tennis player Boris Becker.

"He's the hero of our nation. It hasn't happened by chance, he's earned it by hard work."

—West Germany team-mate Günter Netzer.

Beckenbauer is widely considered to be one of the greatest defenders in the history of football. He is often credited as having invented the role of the modern sweeper or libero, a defensive player who intervenes proactively in the offensive game of his team. Named European Footballer of the Year twice, Beckenbauer was chosen on the World Team of the 20th Century in 1998, and the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2002.

An icon in Germany, and one of only two men to have won the World Cup both as a player and as a manager, Beckenbauer was lauded by former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder for winning the World Cup as a player in 1974, winning as manager in 1990, and for playing a leading role in Germany's success of achieving host status of the 2006 World Cup.

Media

During his playing career, Beckenbauer's popularity was such that he was included as a character in Monty Python's sketch "The Philosophers' Football Match" as the sole genuine player and a "surprise inclusion" to the German team. During the match, between famous Greek and German philosophers, instead of actually playing football, all the "players" walk in circles contemplating philosophy, much to the confusion of Beckenbauer.

In a 2013 advertisement for South Korean company Samsung, Beckenbauer appeared as the manager a Galaxy XI of football players from around the globe, and hands the captain's armband to Lionel Messi. Beckenbauer features in EA Sports' FIFA video game series; he was included in the FIFA 15 Ultimate Team Legends.

Personal life

Beckenbauer has been married three times and has five children, one of whom, Stephan, was a professional footballer, who died after a long illness on 1 August 2015, at the age of 46. After appearing in an ad for a big mobile phone company, Beckenbauer specifically requested the number 0176 / 666666 for his mobile phone. However, he soon was flooded with phone calls by men who thought it was a phone sex number (in German, "6" translates to "sechs", very close to the word sex).

Career statistics

Club statistics

Club	League	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		World		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Germany			League		DFB-Pokal		DFB-Ligapokal		Europe		Toyota Cup		Total
Bayern Munich	Regionalliga Süd	1963-64	6	2	-		-		-		-		6	2
		1964-65	37	17	-								37	17
	Bundesliga	1965-66	33	4	6	1			-		-		39	5
		1966-67	33	0	5	0			9	0	-		47	0
		1967-68	28	4	4	0			7	1	-		39	5
		1968-69	33	2	6	0			-		-		39	2
		1969-70	34	6	1	0			2	0	-		37	6
		1970-71	33	3	9	1			8	1	-		50	5
		1971-72	34	6	6	1			7	1	-		47	8
		1972-73	34	6	6	0			6	1	-		46	7
		1973-74	34	5	4	0	-		10	1	-		48	5
		1974-75	33	1	3	0			7	1	-		43	2
		1975-76	34	5	7	2			9	0	2	0	52	7
		1976-77	33	3	4	0			-		-		37	3
United States			NASL		National Challenge Cup		NASL playoffs		North America		—		Total
New York Cosmos	NASL	1977	15	4							-		15	4
		1978	27	8							-		27	8
		1979	12	1							-		12	1
		1980	26	4							-		26	4
Germany			Bundesliga		DFB-Pokal		—		Europe		Toyota Cup		Total
Hamburger SV	Bundesliga	1980-81	18	0	1	0	-		0	0	-		19	0
		1981-82	10	0	3	0			5	0	-		18	0
United States			NASL		National Challenge Cup		NASL playoffs		North America		—		Total
New York Cosmos	NASL	1983	25	2							-		25	2
Club totals	Bayern Munich		439	64	61	5			65	6	2	0	567	75
	New York Cosmos		105	19							-		105	19
	Hamburger SV		28	0	4	0	-		5	0	0	0	37	0
Career totals	Germany		467	64	65	5			70	6	2	0	604	75
	United States		105	19							-		105	19
	Career stats		572	83	65	5			70	6	2	0	709	94

International statistics

National team statistics

Franz Beckenbauer at National-Football-Teams.com

Germany national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1965	3	0
1966	12	7
1967	5	0
1968	9	1
1969	6	0
1970	12	2
1971	9	2
1972	7	0
1973	10	1
1974	15	0
1975	7	0
1976	7	1
1977	1	0
Total	103	14

International goals

Scores and results table. Germany's goal tally first:

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	23 March 1966	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Netherlands	3-1	4-2	Friendly
2.	23 March 1966	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Netherlands	4-2	4-2	Friendly
3.	4 May 1966	Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Republic of Ireland	2-0	4-0	Friendly
4.	12 July 1966	Sheffield, England	Switzerland	3-0	5-0	FIFA World Cup 1966
5.	12 July 1966	Sheffield, England	Switzerland	4-0	5-0	FIFA World Cup 1966
6.	23 July 1966	Sheffield, England	Uruguay	2-0	4-0	FIFA World Cup 1966
7.	25 July 1966	Liverpool, England	Soviet Union	2-0	2-1	FIFA World Cup 1966
8.	1 June 1968	Hanover, Germany	England	1-0	1-0	Friendly
9.	14 June 1970	León, Mexico	England	1-2	3-2 (a.e.t.)	FIFA World Cup 1970
10.	22 November 1970	Athens, Greece	Greece	3-1	3-1	Friendly
11.	22 June 1971	Oslo, Norway	Norway	3-0	7-1	Friendly
12.	30 June 1971	Copenhagen, Denmark	Denmark	3-1	3-1	Friendly
13.	12 May 1973	Hamburg, Germany	Bulgaria	1-0	3-0	Friendly
14.	6 October 1976	Cardiff, Wales	Wales	1-0	2-0	Friendly

Managing statistics

As of 22 January 2014

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %	Ref.
West Germany	1984	1990	7001660000000000000♠66	7001340000000000000♠34	7001200000000000000♠20	7001120000000000000♠12	7001515200000000000♠51.52
Olympique Marseille	1 September 1990	31 December 1990	7001250000000000000♠25	7001160000000000000♠16	7000400000000000000♠4	7000500000000000000♠5	7001640000000000000♠64.00
Bayern Munich	28 December 1993	30 June 1994	7001140000000000000♠14	7000900000000000000♠9	7000200000000000000♠2	7000300000000000000♠3	7001642900000000000♠64.29
Bayern Munich	28 April 1996	30 June 1996	7000500000000000000♠5	7000300000000000000♠3	5000000000000000000♠0	7000200000000000000♠2	7001600000000000000♠60.00
Total			7002110000000000000♠110	7001620000000000000♠62	7001260000000000000♠26	7001220000000000000♠22	7001563600000000000♠56.36	—

Honours

Player

Bayern Munich

• Bundesliga: 1968-69, 1971-72, 1972-73, 1973-74
• DFB-Pokal: 1965-66, 1967-68, 1968-69, 1970-71
• European Cup: 1973-74, 1974-75, 1975-76
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1966-67
• Intercontinental Cup: 1976

Hamburger SV

• Bundesliga: 1981-82

New York Cosmos

• North American Soccer League: 1977, 1978, 1980
• Trans-Atlantic Cup: 1980, 1983

West Germany

• FIFA World Cup: 1974
• UEFA European Championship: 1972

Manager

West Germany

• FIFA World Cup: 1990

Marseille

• Ligue 1: 1990-91

Bayern Munich

• Bundesliga: 1993-94
• UEFA Cup: 1995-96

Individual

Player

• Ballon d'Or: 1972, 1976
• German Footballer of the Year: 1966, 1968, 1974, 1976
• Regionalliga Süd: 1965
• FIFA World Cup Best Young Player Award: 1966
• FIFA World Cup Bronze Boot: 1966
• FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1966, 1970, 1974
• FIFA XI: 1968
• Bravo Otto - Bronze award: 1974, 1975
• Bravo Otto - Silver award: 1976
• FIFA World Cup Silver Ball: 1974
• NASL Most Valuable Player Award: 1977
• FIFA Order of Merit: 1984
• FIFA World Cup All-Time Team: 1994
• UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament: 1972, 1976
• World Team of the 20th Century: 1998
• FIFA World Cup Dream Team: 2002
• FIFA Centennial Player and Football Personality Award: 2004
• FIFA 100: 2004
• Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award: 2007
• IFFHS Universal Genius of World Football: 2007
• Golden Foot: 2010, as football legend
• Marca Leyenda: 2012
• FIFA Presidential Award: 2012
• UEFA President's Award: 2013
• World Soccer Greatest XI of all time: 2013

Manager

• World Soccer Awards Manager of the Year: 1990

Civil

• Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany: 1976
• Bavarian Order of Merit: 1982
• Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany: 1986
• Honorary Golden Coin of the City of Munich: 1995
• Honorary Doctor of the National Sports Academy: 2004
• Commanders' Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany: 2006
• Lower Saxon Merit 1st Class: 2008
• Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia: 2009
• Honorary consul of the Republic of Kosovo: 2011

[ Source: Wikipedia ]