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Page 1 — If Franz takes care, nothing can happen to us
Page 2 — The summer fairy tale has transformed all of Germany
The year starts very sadly. Franz Beckenbauer has died. He gave more to German football than anyone else and embodied his country in the best possible way. With wit, charisma, competence, charm and optimism. The world bows to the figure of light – and I with her.
Franz Beckenbauer always gave us compatriots enormous trust. First as a player, then as a coach, and finally as the creator of the summer fairy tale. It was always true: If Franz takes care of us, nothing can happen to us.
I didn’t see Franz Beckenbauer as a player; he was on the pitch for the last time shortly before I was born. But I noticed how reverently my father spoke of him. And when I later looked at the old recordings from the sixties and seventies, some in black and white, I immediately noticed something: everything was much slower than it is today. The players placed the ball awkwardly. They only continued playing it with the second or third contact.
Views of a footballer
Views of a footballer
Views of a footballer is Philipp Lahm’s ZEIT-ONLINE column. In it, the 2014 World Cup captain addresses the big questions of football and, at the same time, current social debates. Around thirty international newspapers take over the column, among others The Republic (Italy), Work (Slovenia), The country (Spain), Tribune (Ukraine), Express (Portugal), Makfudbal (North Macedonia), Evening News (Finland), Haaretz (Israel)Aftonbladet (Sweden), The morning paper (Island), World Walk (Norway), Gazeta Wyborcza (Poland), 444 (Hungary), Politics (Denmark), The Team (France), Diary of N (Slovakia), Telesport (Croatia), Sport (Czech Republic), Efimerida ton Syntakton (Greece), Lead (Romania), Times of Malta (Malta) and the Guardian (Great Britain). It was created in exchange with Oliver Fritsch, the sports editor at ZEIT ONLINE.
Just not one. Franz played the ball directly where he wanted it. He played in a way that only became common practice decades later. Like a man from the future, only with the heavy balls and shoes and on the bumpy football pitches of the past.
I have in mind a free kick that he, wearing an FC Bayern jersey, shot with the outside of his foot over the wall and into the corner of the goal after a straight run. To contemporary witnesses, this goal must have seemed like a miracle.
Franz Beckenbauer embodied this progress and this technical innovation with unprecedented ease. And he wasn’t just more elegant than the others, he had a different idea of football and teamwork. He became a role model for a generation.
The emperor renewed football, sped it up and made it more beautiful. I can’t think of anyone else who would have changed the game in the same way.
When Germany became world champions in 1990 under team boss Franz Beckenbauer, I was glued to the television as a six-year-old. I think I’ve seen every game in this World Cup. I remember very clearly the penalty that Andy Brehme took to win us the title. And the hairstyle of the team boss, who entertained the whole country with his sayings.
The year starts very sadly. Franz Beckenbauer has died. He gave more to German football than anyone else and embodied his country in the best possible way. With wit, charisma, competence, charm and optimism. The world bows to the figure of light – and I with her.
Franz Beckenbauer always gave us compatriots enormous trust. First as a player, then as a coach, and finally as the creator of the summer fairy tale. It was always true: If Franz takes care of us, nothing can happen to us.
I didn’t see Franz Beckenbauer as a player; he was on the pitch for the last time shortly before I was born. But I noticed how reverently my father spoke of him. And when I later looked at the old recordings from the sixties and seventies, some in black and white, I immediately noticed something: everything was much slower than it is today. The players placed the ball awkwardly. They only continued playing it with the second or third contact.
