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Euro 2008 is down to just two: Germany and Spain.
As both nations take center stage for what may be one of the greatest moments, or the most agonizing, in the country’s history, Playing from Amnesia takes a look back at the greatest figures in their respective football histories.
Perhaps on Sunday Miroslav Klose or Cesc Fabregas will become the national heroes. However, they would still have long way to go to approach the status of these football legends, these men have a unique spot in the sport’s history. Today, we take a look at Germany’s greatest footballer:
Franz Beckenbauer
German football—both before the rise and after the fall of the Wall—is steeped in history and with numerous mythic like figures, such as Klaus Fischer, Oliver Kahn, Toni Schumacher, Jürgen Klinsmann, and the scoring machine Gerd Muller have each left a memorable impression on German football. But they, and all German footballers, live in the lengthy shadow of Franz Beckenbauer.
Der Kaiser—the emperor—is a singularly unique player in German football. Beckenbauer’s resume is stunning. He also won a European Championship with the national team and an unprecedented three consecutive European Cups with Bayern Munich. His greatest moments were saved for the World Cup.
In his first Cup appearance in 1966, Der Kaiser scored four times and he played an unusual midfield position to mark England legend Bobby Charlton all over the field in a 4-2 extra time loss to England in the finals.
Four years later, Beckenbauer and West Germany would fall just short again, losing 4-3 in extra time in semifinals to Italy. Beckenbauer would play much of overtime with a severe should injury, requiring his arm to be strapped to his side.
West Germany’s tough luck would end in 1974 on their home turf, as Beckenbauer and his squad would win 2-1 in a titanic battle with Holland and the legendary Johan Cruyff. It was the last of his World Cup appearances, which included 14 goals, and the highlight of his 103 international caps.
However, to simply look at his resume, you would miss the true greatness of Beckenbauer. The two-time European Footballer of the Year practically defined the role of sweeper, or libero, in modern football. In “sweeping the ball away”, the Kaiser would swiftly take the ball from defense to offense and swing the momentum of the game with long game-changing runs.
“He was a great thinker about the game and brought about a revolution in the way it is played by inventing the role of the attacking sweeper,” the International Football Hall of Fame states. “Those powerful long runs out of central defense had never been seen before. Up to then, no one had thought that a sweeper had any job being in his opponents' half of the field, let alone scoring.”
In case revolutionizing the game, leading his nation to a World Cup, and turning his club team into a national and international powerhouse wasn’t enough, Der Kaiser would lead his nation to the glory once again.
In 1985, only one year after retiring following a stint with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League, Beckenbauer was named manager of the West Germany squad. In his first major international experience, he led an unspectacular team to the finals of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. Four years later in Italy, his national team would raise the cup following a victory over Argentina.
With that, Beckenbauer solidified his place as the patriarch of German football, but he is far from removed from German football. He was a driving force behind winning the bid for the 2006 World Cup, going on to serve as chairman of hosting organization.
“No other soccer figure, except possibly Pele, has ever reached the mythic status of Beckenbauer,” Nobel Prize laureate and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wrote in Time.
He is truly Der Kaiser. Playing from Amnesia is a monthly column by Scott T. Shepherd highlighting the legends of our beloved game. He can be reached at shep1028@hotmail.com. This is one of his late and frankly great contributions to our Euro 2008 special.
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