‘Franz in luck’ – the fairytale career that inspired his nation
Beckenbauer’s extraordinary journey gripped generations as a country looked to rebuild its reputation and standing What made Franz Beckenbauer so appealing to generations of Germans is that – at least until the last few years of his life – he came across as a character out of a fairytale in which everything always turns out well : Franz im Glück, “Franz in luck”, was a headline that tracked his career since he burst on to the national scene as an 18-year-old. “In a thoroughly un-German way, he was born under a lucky star , someone who had the kind of successes fall into his lap for which others had to work their socks off ,” the daily paper Taz wrote in its obituary of Beckenbauer, who died yesterday aged 78. As a player, he was crowned European champion in 1972 and world champion in 1974 , and repeated the latter feat as manager in Italy 16 years later . At club level, he won national and international trophies, mostly with Bayern Munich, the club whose rise to German dominance he la...
