Actually, the ZEIT ONLINE football podcast should only have been invented for Franz Beckenbauer, who died on January 7th. Beckenbauer played so uniquely and soaringly in the sixties, seventies and eighties that one could talk about him for hours. “He managed what only the greats can do: make the difficult look effortless,” says Christian Spiller, one of the two hosts. Oliver Fritsch says Beckenbauer was decades ahead of his time. “As if he had been included in the 1966 World Cup with an AI.”
In the latest episode of He can kick But the hosts not only rave, but also look critically at the figure of Beckenbauer. As a coach, for example, Beckenbauer was successful, but he wasn’t particularly innovative. And as an official he also accumulated misconduct. “Beckenbauer contributed to football’s current loss of credibility,” says Fritsch.
Also in the podcast: Why a wall played such an important role in a life, different faculties, an honest moment from Waldemar Hartmann and our top five German brands.
Scenes and texts we discussed in this episode:
Actually, the ZEIT ONLINE football podcast should only have been invented for Franz Beckenbauer, who died on January 7th. Beckenbauer played so uniquely and soaringly in the sixties, seventies and eighties that one could talk about him for hours. “He managed what only the greats can do: make the difficult look effortless,” says Christian Spiller, one of the two hosts. Oliver Fritsch says Beckenbauer was decades ahead of his time. “As if he had been included in the 1966 World Cup with an AI.”
