Sports/01/08/2024

On the death of Franz Beckenbauer: The sporting career of the "Kaiser"

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As a footballer and coach, Franz Beckenbauer was a shining light. Following setbacks to his health, things recently became quieter around the “Kaiser”. Now Franz Beckenbauer has passed away at the age of 78. ISPO.com recalls his most important stages and successes as a player and team manager.

Author: Martin Jahns
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Franz Beckenbauer in 1976: In that year he became European Champion, European Cup Winner, Intercontinental Cup Winner and Footballer of the Year in Germany and Europe.
Franz Beckenbauer in 1976: In that year he became European Champion, European Cup Winner, Intercontinental Cup Winner and Footballer of the Year in Germany and Europe.
Image credit: Imago

World champion as a player in 1974, world champion as team manager in 1990, organizer of the 2006 World Cup - Germany mourns the loss of its greatest soccer legend. On Sunday, January 7, 2024, Franz Beckenbauer lost his last battle at the age of 78. He had been suffering from a number of illnesses for some time, including Parkinson's disease with associated dementia, according to media reports. Due to his irresistible aura, Beckenbauer, who was also awarded the ISPO Cup after winning the 1990 World Cup, was often referred to as a "shining light". The controversies surrounding the awarding of the 2006 World Cup did nothing to diminish this nimbus. It is alleged that millions were paid to bring the tournament to Germany.

"With Franz Beckenbauer, we are losing one of the very first world athletes who, despite all his successes, remained a true Munich native with a heart. An ambassador of sport and a worthy sponsor of the ISPO Cup."
Tobias Gröber, Head of ISPO Group

Harry Valérien mit Franz Beckenbauer bei einer Aufzeichnung des aktuellen Sportstudios aus den Hallen der ISPO.
Franz Beckenbauer (right) in 1973 during a recording of the current sports studio from the halls of ISPO.
Image credit:
ISPO

Franz Beckenbauer's unique career in football began right on his doorstep in Munich's Giesing neighborhood. Because there, in the south of Munich, the sports field of SC 1906 Munich was right in front of the Beckenbauers' apartment. Franz Beckenbauer started playing football there at the age of six, before, at 14, he joined FC Bayern München in 1959 - the club with which he celebrated his greatest successes.

In 1964, at the age of 18, Beckenbauer made his debut in the first Bayern team and quickly became a top performer - initially in midfield, later as a libero with offensive drive. In 1965, together with later stars such as Gerd Müller or Sepp Maier, he led the Bavarians into the Bundesliga for the first time and later to four championships.

From Munich via New York to Hamburg

From 1974 to 1976 Beckenbauer was the head of the team that won the European Cup three times in a row.

In 1977, Beckenbauer then moved to the USA to play for the New York Cosmos, where he played with Brazil's legend Pele and won the championship three times by 1980.

In 1980, Beckenbauer returned to Germany to Hamburger SV, for whom he played 28 more Bundesliga games until 1982, before he ended his active career after another brief stint at the New York Cosmos in 1983.

After his debut in 1965, Beckenbauer also quickly advanced to become a regular in the national team and then captain. He became world champion with Germany in 1974 and European Champion in 1972. In 1966 he also reached the World Cup final and in 1976 the European Championship final.

Franz Beckenbauer: Also successful as a trainer

As team manager of the German national team from 1984 to 1990, Beckenbauer initially missed out on major titles before he took his leave as world champion with his triumph at the 1990 World Cup in Italy in the final against Argentina and his legendary lonely walk across the field in Rome. Beckenbauer and Brazilian Mario Zagallo are the first two footballers, who became world champions both as a player and a coach.

Beckenbauer took over as interim head coach at FC Bayern twice in the 1990s, winning titles twice: the German championship in 1994 and the UEFA Cup in 1996.

Franz Beckenbauer: The Clubs of his Career

As a player in the men's field:

  • 1964-1977 FC Bayern Munich
  • 1977-1980 New York Cosmos
  • 1980-1982 Hamburger SV
  • 1983 New York Cosmos

As a manager:

  • 1984-1990 Germany (team manager)
  • 1990-1991 Olympique Marseille
  • 1994 FC Bayern Munich (interim)
  • 1996 FC Bayern Munich (interim)

Franz Beckenbauer: His Titles and Honors

As a player:

  • World Champion: 1974
  • European Champion: 1972
  • Intercontinental Cup winner: 1976
  • Winner European Cup of the national champions (3): 1974, 1975, 1976
  • European Cup Winners Cup: 1967
  • German champion (5): 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1982
  • DFB Cup winner (4): 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971
  • US champion in the North American Soccer League (3): 1977, 1978, 1980

As a manager:

  • World Champion: 1990
  • UEFA Cup winner: 1996
  • German Champion: 1994
  • French champion: 1991

Honors:

  • Ballon d'Or (European Footballer of the Year): 1972, 1976
  • Germany's footballer of the year: 1966, 1968, 1974, 1976
  • Honorary captain of the German national football team: 1982
  • Silver laurel leaf: 1966, 1967
  • FIFA World Cup of the 20th century, 1998
  • 3rd place in the election of the world footballer of the 20th century: 1999
  • Germany's footballer of the century: 2000
  • ISPO Cup: 1990
Image gallery
The winners of the ISPO Cup in pictures
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2014 - Swede David Lega has set a total of 14 world records as a Paralympic swimmer. He has been active in politics since 2011, first as Mayor of Gothenburg and now as a Member of the European Parliament. The ISPO trophy was presented to him by Klaus Dittrich, Chairman of the Board of Management of Messe München (right).
2013: Base jumper Felix Baumgartner (right) jumped from the stratosphere at the end of 2012: the highest parachute jump to date at over 38,900 meters. Additional record: 36,400 meters free fall. Klaus Dittrich, CEO of Messe München GmbH, presented the extreme athlete with the ISPO trophy the following year.
2002: Ingemar Stenmark was a Swedish ski racer from 1973 to 1989. The two-time Olympic champion, five-time World champion and three-time winner of the overall World Cup is considered one of the most successful alpine ski racers since 1967. He won 86 World Cups till this day, nobody challenged him. In the picture he is holding the ISPO Cup with Manfred Wutzlhofer (l.), who was then head of the tradeshow. Also present (from left to right): Hans Spitzner
1998: Henry Maske (center) was presented with the trophy by Manfred Wutzlhofer (left), then Chairman of the Board of Management of Messe München, for his extraordinary and fair sporting success as a professional boxer. Maske was IBF World Light Heavyweight Champion from March 1993 - a title he defended until 1996.
The cycling legend Eddy Merckx (left) from Belgium, who was awarded the ISPO trophy in 1993, is considered to be the most successful cyclist of all time. The "Mémoire du Cyclisme" website lists a total of 525 road victories from 1966 to 1978, 98 victories on the track and two victories in cyclo-cross races. He ended his sporting career in 1977 and set up a company under his name that manufactured racing bikes.
Austrian Franz Klammer (center), who became famous as a ski racer, earned the ISPO trophy in 1992. With 25 downhill victories, he went down in World Cup history as the most successful downhill skier at the time. Kammerer also won the gold medal in the downhill at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.
South Tyrolean Reinhold Messner, who turned 75 in 2019, received the ISPO trophy in 1989 (l.). Reinhold Messner is considered one of the most famous mountaineers in the world and has changed the style of high-altitude mountaineering. In 1978, together with Peter Habeler, he was the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest without oxygen tanks. From 1970 to 1986, he also climbed 14 eight-thousanders - many more extreme summits followed.
In 1987, the ISPO trophy went to the US track and field athlete and three-time Olympic champion Wilma Rudolph (*1940; † 1994) (center). In 1960, the sprinter also went down in history as the first woman in the world to run under 23 seconds over 200 meters. One year later, she set another world record of 11.2 seconds over 100 meters. The Wilma Rudolph Foundation, which she founded, supports young female athletes.
In 1985, Austria's probably most famous ski racer Toni Sailer (*1935 † August 24, 2009) received an ISPO trophy. Toni Sailer (r.) was not only the winner of three Olympic gold medals, won at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina D'Ampezzo, and seven world championship titles, but also an actor and singer. The premium sports brand Toni Sailer, founded in 2004, is named after him.
Cup winner 1983: Pelé, the exceptional Brazilian footballer (on the podium), who is considered by many to be the best player of all time. By the end of his soccer career in 1977, he had scored well over 1,250 goals. In 1999, he was voted Sportsman of the Past Century by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
On February 27, 1982, the then exceptional Czechoslovak athlete Emil Zatopek (*1922; † November 21, 2000) was awarded the trophy (r.). The runner set numerous world records between 1949 and 1955. He won Olympic gold in the 10,000 meters in London in 1948 and three Olympic gold medals in Helsinki in 1952.
Max Schmeling (*1905; † February 2, 2005), who is still considered one of Germany's most popular athletes today, became an ISPO trophy winner in 1972. The German heavyweight boxer held the world title from 1930 to 1932. Schmeling's boxing fight statistics were 56 victories in 70 professional fights.
German professional footballer Fritz Walter (*1920; † June 17, 2002) was awarded the ISPO Cup in 1974 (r.). 20 years earlier, he led the German team to the historic World Cup title ("Miracle of Bern"). He was the first national player to be named honorary captain.
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Author: Martin Jahns
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