Franz Beckenbauer passes away at 78: Decoding his exceptional stats
German football legend, Franz Beckenbauer, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of the game, breathed his last at the age of 78. The former German captain was suffering from several health problems for the last few years. He is one of the three men to win the FIFA World Cup as a player and a manager. Here's more.
Third man to complete this unique FIFA World Cup double
Beckenbauer won the FIFA World Cup title as a player in 1974 with West Germany. He repeated that feat as a manager of West Germany in the 1990 World Cup. Only three men have won the World Cup as a player and also as a manager. Brazil's Mario Zagallo and France's Didier Deschamps are the other two to achieve this feat.
A look at his career as a player
Beckenbauer came up through the ranks at Bayern Munich. He made his debut in 1964 in Regionalliga, second division in Germany. He featured in 584 matches for Bayern. In 1977, he joined the New York Cosmos and remained there for four seasons, playing 105 matches. He joined Hamburger in 1980, featuring in 38 matches. He returned to Cosmos for a single season before retiring.
His exceptional managerial stats
The German tactician led West Germany from 1984 to 1990. He managed them in 66 matches, winning 34 of them while registering 20 draws (Win%: 51.52). Beckenbauer became Olympique Marseille's manager for a brief period in 1990, leading them in 25 encounters. He won 16 of them. He managed Bayern in two stints (1993 and 1996), leading them in 19 matches (12 wins).
He won the Ballon d'Or twice
Beckenbauer was honored with the Ballon d'Or twice in 1972 and also in 1976. He is among the 10 footballers who won the Ballon d'Or two or more times. Notably, Beckenbauer is the only defender to win the Ballon d'Or more than once.
103 international caps for Germany!
Beckenbauer made his debut for Germany in 1965. He featured in 103 matches for Germany while netting 14 goals. He was a part of Germany's World Cup squads that finished runners-up in 1966 followed by the third-place finish in 1970. Finally, they won the title in 1974 when he captained the team. Beckenbauer was in the tournament all-star team in all three editions.
A look at his accolades as a player
Beckenbauer won the 1964-65 Regionalliga. He won four Bundesliga crowns with Bayern in 1968-69, 1971-72, 1972-73, and 1973-94. He won three successive European Cups (1974-1976) and won the World Club Cup as well as the European Cup Winners' Cup He bagged three NASL titles (1977-1978 and 1980). He won 1981-82 Bundesliga with Hamburger With Germany, he won the 1974 WC and 1972 European Championship.
Here are his trophies won as manager
His first accolade as a manager was guiding Germany to the 1990 World Cup in Italy. The Germans defeated hot favorite Argentina in the final. Andreas Brehme's goal separated the two teams. Beckenbauer won the 1990-91 Ligue 1 title with Marseille. He won the Bundesliga once with Bayern Munich in 1993-94 and also won the 1995-96 UEFA Cup with the Bavarians.
