German football fans should fill Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena to properly commemorate the life of Germany great Franz Beckenbauer who died aged 78 on Sunday, former team mate and ex-Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said on Tuesday.
Beckenbauer, who was Germany’s first truly global sports star and led it to the World Cup title as player and coach in 1974 and 1990 respectively, had become part of the country’s social fabric in a hugely successful career on and off the pitch spanning over 50 years.
Beckenbauer, considered one of the best players of all-time, won 103 caps and captained West Germany to World Cup success in 1974, two years after lifting the European title.
He also headed the organising committee for the 2006 World Cup held in Germany.
“The whole world of football and beyond is grieving for our friend Franz,” Rummenigge, who played alongside Beckenbauer at Bayern Munich in the 1970s, told Bild newspaper.
Rummenigge, a former longtime Bayern CEO, was West Germany’s captain under coach Beckenbauer in the 1986 World Cup where they lost to Argentina in the final.
West Germany’s national team poses for the official photo before the FIFA World Cup 1986, where Beckenbauer (second row, first from right) was the coach while Rummenigge (second row fifth from left) was the captain. | Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives
“As a thank you and in remembrance FC Bayern should organise a commemoration in the stadium which would not have existed without him,” he said.
Bayern said on Tuesday the stadium would be illuminated to honour Beckenbauer for the coming days.
“In memory of the ‘Kaiser’, the Allianz Arena will light up with the words “Thank you Franz” in the evening hours of 16:30 to 22:00 CET over the coming days,” the club said.
“To finish, the special illumination will also be seen... on Friday night, during FC Bayern’s home match against Hoffenheim.”
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The Bundesliga resumes on Friday after the winter break.
Beckenbauer was part of the mighty Bayern Munich team which won three consecutive European Cups from 1974-76 among other titles. He became the team coach and club president after his playing career, establishing the German champion as one of the most successful and valuable brands in European football.
Team of champions is a deserved description of FC Bayern Munich. After six of its players, team skipper Franz Beckenbauer to the fore, had won the European Championship with the national team of the Federation Republic of Germany, this Germany club team, by far the best German eleven at the moment, had just snatched the 1971-72 German Football Championship with a clear 5-1 victory over FC Schalke 04. | Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives
“Franz Beckenbauer was the leader of the German football for many decades,” 1990 World Cup winner Juergen Klinsmann said. “He was with Pele the best player in the world in the 60s, 70s, 80s.”
“He coached us to win the World Cup, he won the World Cup. He brought the World Cup to Germany 2006,” added Klinsmann, who now coaches the South Korean national team.
“He was almost like a father and so I think the football world is very, very sad but especially Germany loses its most charismatic leader in sports over the last many decades.”
Bayern, under the presidency of Beckenbauer, left the ageing Olympic stadium and moved to its purpose-built Allianz Arena in 2006.
A stadium ceremony and special illuminations are not the only proposals to remember the “Kaiser”, a nickname he earned for his playing style and vision of the game.
Fellow 1974 World Cup winner Bertie Vogts suggested renaming the German Cup the Beckenbauer Cup to ensure his memory lives on.
“Maybe the German FA (DFB) should consider renaming for example the German Cup after Franz Beckenbauer,” Vogts told the Rheinische Post newspaper, “It is important that his name is not forgotten by the football generations that follow.”
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