Franz Anton Beckenbauer: Legend Of The World Game

There was little not  to love about the young German superstar when on the pitch. He is the only man on the planet to have won a World Cup as both player and manager of his country. But it is not just for the medals and trophies that Beckenbauer is remembered. Rather it is for the style and the genius. Every movement he made on the pitch bristled with elegance. There was an arrogance in his play that suggested he was always in command. Franz was a revolutionary thinker in the game, inventing the role of the attacking sweeper. 

Franz Anton Beckenbauer is forever known as one of the best players in the world to play domestic and international football. Beckenbauer personified what the attacking sweeper position is today and was the first to do so. At the ripe age of 20 he dominated the 1966 World Cup for Germany scoring 4 goals for the team over the tournament. Franz also didn't need sport the Captain sash on his arm to be the true leader of his team. From this he was nicknames "Der Kaiser" meaning The Emperor and this was because of his elegant playing style, dominance on the attack as well as his leadership presence on the pitch. 

Few players in the world were or are as versatile as Beckenbauer was. He was adept to play in several positions. Originally playing a centre-forward position. In his first season at Bayern FC he helped the team to be promoted to the newly formed Bundesliga. By the 1968/69 season, Beckenbauer was given the opportunity to captain Bayern to their first Bundesliga title.  Between 1972 and 74, Bayern won a hat-trick of Bundesliga titles, and likewise with the European Cup from 1974 to 76. From these amazing feats, Franz was twice named the European Footballer of the Year in 1972 and 76. Beckenbauer represented West Germany for his international duties. He clocked up 103 appearances and 14 goals for his country. He was an important member of the World Cup squads that finished runners-up in 1966, third place in 1970, and finally champions in 1974, while also being named to the tournament all-star team in all three editions of the cup.

Even though Beckenbauer is considered one of the best players of all time, he was not universally loved, and often expressed real aggression and frustrations toward his team mates. Also he caused a large amount of controversy when he decided to join the New York Cosmos in 1977, completing a very successful four year spell. This was a very lucrative contract at the time. However, Franz helped to bring the Soccer Bowl Championship home on three occasions 1977, 78 and 80. Beckenbauer then returned back to the Bundesliga playing for Hamburger SV in Germany from 1980 to 1982, winning another title under his belt. Then finally moving back to New York to play for the Cosmos one more time in 1983. At the conclusion of his career in the domestic leagues around the world he has clocked up an impressive 587 appearances and score 81 goals. Regardless of the character he was on or off the field. Beckenbauer performed phenomenally. He was a title magnet. Wherever he was he brought home the gold. Very few players today have the ability to have that impact on the game, as much as Franz did. This is why he is worthy of one of the best ever to play the game of football. 

Upon his return back to home in Germany, Beckenbauer was appointed the manager of the West German national team and his success did not stop with his playing career. He managed to take the team all the way to the final of the 1986 World Cup, in which they unfortunately lost to the giants of world football, Argentina. The next World Cup in 1990, Beckenbauer managed the last German Team  without East German players in a World Cup, winning the final 1–0, against Argentina, the rematch of the previous World Cup final in which they lost previously. Beckenbauer is one of three men to have won the Cup as player and as manager, and he is the first man and one of only two to have won the title as the team captain as well as manager.

Later in his career, Franz was still heavily involved with the football world. In 1998, he became vice-president of the German Football Association. At the end of the 1990s, Beckenbauer helped gain the successful bid for Germany to organise the 2006 World Cup.

Franz Beckenbauer always wore his boots until they fell apart. His chosen boot at the time, supplied by Adidas was the Adidas Cosmos, produced in 1970. As he usually played with the outside of his foot, he mostly wore through the upper leather around the outer ball of his right foot. The boot was made using a last adapted to match the athlete’s foot. Beckenbauer has narrow feet and takes between a us size 8 and 8.5. The crushed patent leather is very light, soft and smooth; it also repels water and dirt.

 Not only was Beckenbauer an legend for the game of football around the world, but he was a style and in-particular the Three-Stripe Tracksuit. When it comes adidas nostalgia, we always seem to go back to the 1970’s or 80’s. An era of the first revolution of sportswear as we know it today, where athletic apparel became cool to wear off the courts and pitches. The connection between sports and Adidas is closer than most, with vast amounts of signature pieces and releases coming from the beautiful game of football.