Franz Anton Beckenbauer

Beckenbauer, Franz Anton, 1945-, German soccer player nicknamed der Kaiser. The only person to win the World Cup as both player-captain (1974) and coach (1990), he began his career at 14 on the Bayern Munich youth team. A player on the regular Munich squad (1963-76) and team captain from 1971, he defined the attacking sweeper position and led Bayern to three consecutive European cups (1974-76). He was also captain of West Germany's national squad, which won the 1972 European championship and 1974 World Cup. Playing with the New York Cosmos (1977-80, 1983-84), he was instrumental in the team's three North American Soccer League championships (1977-78, 1980). Beckenbauer managed the West German national team (1984-90) and the Olympique Marseille (1990-91) and Bayern Munich (1993-94, 1996) clubs. Since 1998 he has been vice president of the German Football Federation.