Franz Beckenbauer is considered one of the best defenders in the history of world football.
The German is also credited with revolutionising the art of modern defending and pioneering the ‘sweeper’ role within the European game.
At the age of 30, having already won numerous domestic titles, a European Championship and World Cup trophy, Beckenbauer became thought of as the complete player in his position.
Der Kaiser. Forever ‘the Emperor’ of European football.
Masterful Sweeper
The sweeper is a more versatile centre-back, “sweeping up” the ball if an opponent manages to breach their side’s defensive line and often carrying it forward to start a fresh attack.
It’s a position thought of as more fluid than that of other defenders who typically man-mark their designated opponents instead.
Arguably, England’s World Cup-winning Captain Bobby Moore had been adept at this type of play from central defence a few years prior to Beckenbauer, yet it was the German who truly perfected it.
During the 1975/76 season, Beckenbauer appeared 52 times for Bayern Munich which was his career-best in a single season. He also registered his joint-highest goal tally with 7 strikes, the same total he’d achieved during his first Ballon d’Or triumph of 1972.
Franz Beckenbauer was the first defender to win a Ballon d’Or following Germany’s 1972 European Championship win vs the Soviet Union. He remains only one of three defenders to ever win the award since its inception in 1956 along with Matthias Sammer in 1996 and Fabio Cannavaro ten years later.
In 1976, four years on from his first accolade, Beckenbauer was looking to win it again and become the only defender to ever claim the prize twice.
Yet a challenger to the German’s Ballon d’Or title emerged.
An Immovable Empire
Ballon d’Or runner-up Rob Rensenbrink posed a severe threat to Beckenbauer’s individual crown. The Dutch winger scored 31 goals in 44 games across all competitions for Anderlecht as the Belgian side went on to win both the league title and Cup Winners Cup.
Rensenbrink scored four times during the Netherlands Euro 76 qualifying campaign with his country eventually finishing in third place at the tournament.
But ultimately Beckenbauer achieved more than the Dutchman on the continent and led Bayern to their third European Cup by beating Saint Etienne 1-0 in the final.
At the 1976 European Championship, Beckenbauer was typically vital as West Germany reached the final, losing on penalties to Czechoslovakia with the German defender also named in the Team of the Tournament.
The 1976 Ballon d’Or was his.
It marked Beckenbauer’s final year as a world force before retiring from international football in 1977 at the age of 31 followed by a move to New York Cosmos.
He played in America for three years before finally returning to the Bundesliga in 1981 and even claimed a fifth German League title whilst at Hamburger SV.
Beckenbauer called time on his career in 1983 as the greatest sweeper European football has ever witnessed.
1976 Ballon d’Or Top 20
| Rank | Name | Club(s) | Nationality | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Franz Beckenbauer | West Germany Bayern Munich | West Germany | 91 |
| 2 | Rob Rensenbrink | Belgium Anderlecht | Netherlands | 75 |
| 3 | Ivo Viktor | Czech Republic Dukla Prague | Czechoslovakia | 52 |
| 4 | Kevin Keegan | England Liverpool | England | 32 |
| 5 | Michel Platini | France Nancy | France | 19 |
| 6 | Anton Ondruš | Czech Republic Slovan Bratislava | Czechoslovakia | 16 |
| 7 | Johan Cruyff | Spain Barcelona | Netherlands | 12 |
| Ivan Ćurković | France Saint-Étienne | Yugoslavia | ||
| 9 | Rainer Bonhof | West Germany Borussia M’Gladbach | West Germany | 9 |
| Gerd Müller | West Germany Bayern Munich | West Germany | ||
| Marián Masný | Czech Republic Slovan Bratislava | Czechoslovakia | ||
| 12 | Franco Causio | Italy Juventus | Italy | 7 |
| 13 | Berti Vogts | West Germany Borussia Mönchengladbach | West Germany | 6 |
| 14 | Tibor Nyilasi | Hungary Ferencváros | Hungary | 5 |
| 15 | Roberto Bettega | Italy Juventus | Italy | 4 |
| Jürgen Croy | East Germany Sachsenring Zwickau | East Germany | ||
| Dudu Georgescu | Romania Dinamo București | Romania | ||
| Jaroslav Pollák | Czech Republic VSS Košice | Czechoslovakia | ||
| 19 | Oleg Blokhin | Soviet Union Dinamo Kyiv | Soviet Union | 3 |
| Joachim Streich | East Germany 1. FC Magdeburg | East Germany |
Trivia
From 1974-1976, Franz Beckenbauer’s Bayern Munich side remains one of only four teams to win three consecutive European Cups/Champions League titles including Real Madrid (1956-1960 and 2016-2018) and Ajax (1971-1973)
Rob Rensenbrink was one of the most consistent goal-scoring midfielders of the 1970s – netting twenty times or more across six consecutive seasons with Anderlecht.
Czechoslovakia’s Euro 76 goalkeeping hero Ivo Viktor won his country’s Player of the Year award four seasons in a row from 1972 to 1976.
