Franz Beckenbauer has just passed away at the age of 78. He is considered one of the best players of all time with the title “Emperor”, as well as the greatest nаme in German football.
During his entire football career, Franz Beckenbauer won the Golden Ball title twice, along with countless achievements and glories at the national team and club levels as both a player and a coach. . He was the one who created the “Libero” position and is always remembered as the greatest player in this position.
In this article, The Sporting News will look back at the achievements that Franz Beckenbauer has achieved throughout his career.
Franz Beckenbauer’s achievements at the club
During his entire football career, Franz Beckenbauer has a total of 18 major titles, with 16 of them at the club level. Among them, he won 12 titles with Bayern Munich, the team he joined in 1959, when he was just 14 years old, and made his debut for the first team in 1964.
With Bayern Munich, Franz Beckenbauer brought home the C1 title (predecessor of the Champions League) for 3 consecutive years, from 1974 to 1976. He also had 4 Bundeslia championship titles with the Bavarian Gray Tigers. After that, he moved to play for New York Cosmos and also achieved much success. In 1982, he returned to Germany to play for Hamburg and won another Bundesliga championship.
Bayern Munich
TitleSeasonBundesliga1968/69, 1971/72, 1972/73, 1973/74DFB Pokal1965/66, 1966/67, 1968/69, 1970/71C1 Cup1973/74, 1974/75, 1975/76European Cup Winners’ Cup1966/67
New York Cosmos
TitleSeasonNorth American Soccer League1977, 1978, 1980
Hamburg
TitleSeasonBundesliga1981/82
Franz Beckenbauer’s achievements in the national team
Not only successful at the club level, Franz Beckenbauer is also a great player for the national team. At Euro 1972, he led West Germany to the first major title of his career. In the tournament that took place 4 years later, he could not defend the championship and became runner-up.
Between these two tournaments, Franz Beckenbauer also brought home the World Cup championship title in 1974 right in his hometown. That was the peak of Franz Beckenbauer as well as West Germany, after finishing second at the 1966 World Cup and third place at the 1970 World Cup.
West Germany is also the first team to win two Euro and World Cup titles in two consecutive tournaments.
(Getty Images)
Franz Beckenbauer’s achievements with West Germany
TitleYearEuro1972World Cup1974
Franz Beckenbauer’s achievements as a coach
As coach, Franz Beckenbauer added 4 titles to the collection. He led the West German team to the 1990 World Cup championship title, after being runner-up in Mexico 1986. At the Euro arena, he helped Germany take third place overall in the 1988 tournament.
A year after winning the World Cup, he won it in a new country, leading Marseille to glory in France in 1991.
After that, he returned to the club he had been with since childhood, helping Bayern Munich win the Bundesliga title in 1994. He also contributed greatly to helping Germany successfully host the 2006 World Cup.
(Getty Images)
West Germany
TitleYearWorld Cup1990
Marseille
TitleSeasonLigue 11990/91
Bayern Munich
TitleSeasonBundesliga1993/94UEFA Cup1995/96
How many Ballon d’Ors does Franz Beckenbauer have?
In world football history, Franz Beckenbauer is the first defender to win the Golden Ball title. He is also the only defender to have two Golden Ball titles, winning in 1972 and 1976.
With the birth of the Libero position, Franz Beckenbauer is the legend and monument of an extremely special midfielder in football history. Libero takes on the role of confronting the number 10 player on the opponent’s side, is a sweeping shield when defending and is a player with the skills to control the pace of the match, as well as launch extremely long passes. Exactly.
For Franz Beckenbauer, he is a combination of an extremely calm player, the ability to control and read the game of a midfielder and the top defensive techniques of a top midfielder in the world.
The Libero position gradually disappears with the flow of world football, but Franz Beckenbauer is always remembered as one of the great legends.