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Beckenbauer the National Team Manager
Despite his superb record as a player, the appointment of Franz Beckenbauer as West German team manager in July 1984 caused a lot of raised eyebrows. It is unusual, to say the least, for anyone to begin a career in football team management with a job as manager of a national team. But when West Germany had a disappointing campaign in the 1984 European Championships, team manager Jupp Derwall was ousted and the German FA turned to Beckenbauer. His first task was to guide the West German team to the finals of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. They achieved that fairly comfortably, losing only one game in the qualifying tournament.
West Germany's progress in the 1986 World Cup was sometimes a little uncertain. They struggled through to the second round, losing one group game to Denmark, and then took 86 minutes to score the one goal that beat Morocco. In the quarter-finals, they and Mexico played two hours of goalless football before West Germany finally progressed courtesy of a penalty shoot-out. But in the semi-finals, Beckenbauer's team won a more convincing victory over France, goals from Andreas Brehme and Rudi Voller giving them a 2-0 win.
Argentina dominated much of the 1986 World Cup final, and led West Germany 2-0 with less than 20 minutes to go. Then the German team produced a determined comeback. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge made it 2-1 in the 74th minute, and six minutes later Voller equalised. It seemed as though Franz Beckenbauer's team might win football's biggest prize in his first tournament as a team manager. Then, with seven minutes left, a superb pass from Diego Maradona set up Jose Burruchuga to score the winning goal for Argentina.
West Germany were the host nation for the 1988 European Championships. They progressed through the first round group stage of the competition easily enough, but were beaten 2-1 by the Netherlands in the semi-final, with Marco van Basten scoring a dramatic 89th-minute winner for the Netherlands. The Dutch side went on to win the trophy, beating the Soviet Union 2-0 in the final.
Fortunately, the West German FA kept faith with Franz, and he remained in charge as the West German team began their 1990 World Cup campaign. Their progress through the qualifying tournament was steady rather than sensational, but they finally finished second in their group behind the Netherlands, enough to earn a place at the World Cup finals in Italy.
West Germany got through the first round in Italy fairly comfortably, and the second round brought another meeting with the Netherlands. This time the West Germans won 2-1, with goals from Juergen Klinsmann and Andreas Brehme. Then a tense game against Czechoslovakia was won 1-0 thanks to a Matthaus penalty, and the West Germans were through to the semi-finals. There, they would face another traditional rival: England.
The semi-final was goalless until the 60th minute, when a deflected shot from Andreas Brehme looped over England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and dropped just under the bar. But then, with 10 of the 90 minutes left, Gary Lineker scored for England, and the game went into extra time. No more goals were scored, and so the semi-final went to a penalty shoot-out. Both teams converted their first three penalties, and then West German goalkeeper Bodo Illgner saved Stuart Pearce's spot kick. Olaf Thon scored with the West Germans' fourth penalty, meaning that Chris Waddle had to score to keep England's hopes alive. He missed, and Franz Beckenbauer had led West Germany to the World Cup final for the second time.
For neutral observers, the 1990 World Cup final between West Germany and Argentina was not a particularly edifying spectacle. It was a bad-tempered, scrappy match. Beckenbauer had organised the West German defence superbly, and Argentina's tackles and tactics became more and more desperate as the game progressed and the Germans frustrated them. Tempers frayed, and there was the first-ever sending off in a World Cup final when Argentina's Pedro Monzon was shown the red card in the 65th minute.
Rather appropriately, the decisive goal came from a disputed penalty, awarded to West Germany with five minutes to go and converted by Andreas Brehme. Argentina weren't able to equalise, but they did manage to get another player sent off in the short time remaining, Gustavo Dezotti following Monzon off the field.
West Germany kept Argentina's nine men at bay for the remaining minutes, and won the game 1-0. It may have been a disappointing final, but that hardly diminished the team manager's achievement. Franz Beckenbauer had won the World Cup as a player in 1974, and now he'd won the Cup again as a manager.
Back to Bayern
Having won the ultimate prize in international football team management, Franz decided to quit while he was on top, and gave up the West Germany team manager's job. But he couldn't stay away from football management altogether. His first job as a club manager was with the French team Olympique Marseilles. Then he got the chance to return to the club where he'd first made his name as a player.
Once again, the combination of Franz Beckenbauer and Bayern Munich proved to be successful. Bayern were champions of the Bundesliga in 1994. Two years later they won the UEFA Cup, comfortably beating Bordeaux of France by an aggregate score of 5-1 in the two-legged final. Franz Beckenbauer then 'moved upstairs' to become president of Bayern Munich.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-lanc.../plain/A773732
West Germany - During Franz Beckenbauer's period as Manager there was no FIFA Ranking - introduced Dec. 1992 - however, Germany could be considered as never being out of the top 5 national teams.
Germany's current FIFA Ranking - http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/ran...ble/index.html
Germany FIFA Ranking 2004-2013
- http://en.fifaranking.net/nations/deu/ranking_d.php
Despite his superb record as a player, the appointment of Franz Beckenbauer as West German team manager in July 1984 caused a lot of raised eyebrows. It is unusual, to say the least, for anyone to begin a career in football team management with a job as manager of a national team. But when West Germany had a disappointing campaign in the 1984 European Championships, team manager Jupp Derwall was ousted and the German FA turned to Beckenbauer. His first task was to guide the West German team to the finals of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. They achieved that fairly comfortably, losing only one game in the qualifying tournament.
West Germany's progress in the 1986 World Cup was sometimes a little uncertain. They struggled through to the second round, losing one group game to Denmark, and then took 86 minutes to score the one goal that beat Morocco. In the quarter-finals, they and Mexico played two hours of goalless football before West Germany finally progressed courtesy of a penalty shoot-out. But in the semi-finals, Beckenbauer's team won a more convincing victory over France, goals from Andreas Brehme and Rudi Voller giving them a 2-0 win.
Argentina dominated much of the 1986 World Cup final, and led West Germany 2-0 with less than 20 minutes to go. Then the German team produced a determined comeback. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge made it 2-1 in the 74th minute, and six minutes later Voller equalised. It seemed as though Franz Beckenbauer's team might win football's biggest prize in his first tournament as a team manager. Then, with seven minutes left, a superb pass from Diego Maradona set up Jose Burruchuga to score the winning goal for Argentina.
West Germany were the host nation for the 1988 European Championships. They progressed through the first round group stage of the competition easily enough, but were beaten 2-1 by the Netherlands in the semi-final, with Marco van Basten scoring a dramatic 89th-minute winner for the Netherlands. The Dutch side went on to win the trophy, beating the Soviet Union 2-0 in the final.
Fortunately, the West German FA kept faith with Franz, and he remained in charge as the West German team began their 1990 World Cup campaign. Their progress through the qualifying tournament was steady rather than sensational, but they finally finished second in their group behind the Netherlands, enough to earn a place at the World Cup finals in Italy.
West Germany got through the first round in Italy fairly comfortably, and the second round brought another meeting with the Netherlands. This time the West Germans won 2-1, with goals from Juergen Klinsmann and Andreas Brehme. Then a tense game against Czechoslovakia was won 1-0 thanks to a Matthaus penalty, and the West Germans were through to the semi-finals. There, they would face another traditional rival: England.
The semi-final was goalless until the 60th minute, when a deflected shot from Andreas Brehme looped over England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and dropped just under the bar. But then, with 10 of the 90 minutes left, Gary Lineker scored for England, and the game went into extra time. No more goals were scored, and so the semi-final went to a penalty shoot-out. Both teams converted their first three penalties, and then West German goalkeeper Bodo Illgner saved Stuart Pearce's spot kick. Olaf Thon scored with the West Germans' fourth penalty, meaning that Chris Waddle had to score to keep England's hopes alive. He missed, and Franz Beckenbauer had led West Germany to the World Cup final for the second time.
For neutral observers, the 1990 World Cup final between West Germany and Argentina was not a particularly edifying spectacle. It was a bad-tempered, scrappy match. Beckenbauer had organised the West German defence superbly, and Argentina's tackles and tactics became more and more desperate as the game progressed and the Germans frustrated them. Tempers frayed, and there was the first-ever sending off in a World Cup final when Argentina's Pedro Monzon was shown the red card in the 65th minute.
Rather appropriately, the decisive goal came from a disputed penalty, awarded to West Germany with five minutes to go and converted by Andreas Brehme. Argentina weren't able to equalise, but they did manage to get another player sent off in the short time remaining, Gustavo Dezotti following Monzon off the field.
West Germany kept Argentina's nine men at bay for the remaining minutes, and won the game 1-0. It may have been a disappointing final, but that hardly diminished the team manager's achievement. Franz Beckenbauer had won the World Cup as a player in 1974, and now he'd won the Cup again as a manager.
Back to Bayern
Having won the ultimate prize in international football team management, Franz decided to quit while he was on top, and gave up the West Germany team manager's job. But he couldn't stay away from football management altogether. His first job as a club manager was with the French team Olympique Marseilles. Then he got the chance to return to the club where he'd first made his name as a player.
Once again, the combination of Franz Beckenbauer and Bayern Munich proved to be successful. Bayern were champions of the Bundesliga in 1994. Two years later they won the UEFA Cup, comfortably beating Bordeaux of France by an aggregate score of 5-1 in the two-legged final. Franz Beckenbauer then 'moved upstairs' to become president of Bayern Munich.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-lanc.../plain/A773732
West Germany - During Franz Beckenbauer's period as Manager there was no FIFA Ranking - introduced Dec. 1992 - however, Germany could be considered as never being out of the top 5 national teams.
Germany's current FIFA Ranking - http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/ran...ble/index.html
Germany FIFA Ranking 2004-2013
- http://en.fifaranking.net/nations/deu/ranking_d.php
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