Beckenbauer and Zagallo, footballing greats who attained excellence

German, 78, and Brazilian, 92, two of only three men to win the World Cup as player and coach, died within a week of each other

FILE - Brazil's soccer star Pele, left, embraces Mario Zagallo after the latter's appointment as coach of the Brazilian national soccer team, in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, in March 1970. Zagallo, who reached the World Cup final a record five times, winning four, as a player and then a coach with Brazil, has died. He was 92. Brazilian soccer confederation president Ednaldo Rodrigues said in a statement in the early hours of Saturday, Jan. 5, 2024, confirming Zagallo's death that Zagallo "is one of the biggest legends" of the sport. (AP Photo, File)Show less

It's a sad day in football when the beautiful game loses one of its brightest stars. It's tragic when it loses two in the space of a week.

News of the deaths of Franz Beckenbauer, aged 78, and Mario Zagallo at 92 is a time for sadness and reflection on the careers of two men with legitimate claims to having transformed the game.

Zagallo's death last week was felt from the vibrant streets of Rio de Janeiro to the bustling metropolis of Dubai. The first of only three men to win the World Cup as both player and coach – Beckenbauer was the second – Zagallo earned his place in history and was never shy of reminding people of it.

In his seminal book Brazil 1970 – How the Greatest Team of all time won the World Cup, Sam Kunti described how Zagallo would ignore his questions to instead self-indulge.

"He was full-on vain. Here was a man who had spent a lifetime cultivating his own place in history, a man who would tell you of his glories, and would never pass on a chance to be thanked for his own largesse," wrote Kunti.

As a player, Zagallo was talented but limited. Perhaps that's unkind when judging anyone playing in the same era as Pele, Garrincha and Didi but while others may have accepted their fate and remained happy to watch from the sidelines, Zagallo instead reinvented himself and analysed where Brazil's weaknesses lay.

The Selecao's commitment to attacking football is part of its DNA. Zagallo, a winger by trade, began to drill into anyone who would listen that wide players needed to drop back into midfield to reduce being exposed. It seems trivial now but at the time the idea of an attacking player dropping back to help out his midfielders or defenders was anathema to many Brazilians.

If Zagallo the player was the disruptor then Beckenbauer was the likeable statesman who promised a better future in a Germany still reeling from the ravages of war.

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  Germany captain Franz Beckenbauer receives the World Cup after a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands on July 7, 1974 in Munich. AFP

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  Franz Beckenbauer, left, fights for the ball with Moroccan Benkhrif Boujemaa during the World Cup first round match between West Germany and Morocco, June 1970 in Leon. AFP

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  Franz Beckenbauer, left, opens the scoring for Bayern Munich against St Etienne in the European Cup semi-final of 1975. AFP

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  From left to right: Germany's Franz Beckenbauer, Brazil's Pele, Italy's Giorgio Chinaglia and Paraguay's Romerito line up for New York Cosmos in 1980. Getty Images

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  West Germany coach Franz Beckenbauer, centre, celebrates after his team beat the defending champions Argentina 1-0 in the World Cup final, July 8, 1990 in Rome. AFP

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  Germany manager Franz Beckenbauer, left, stands with midfielder and captain Lothar Matthaus, centre, and defender Andreas Brehme in the cabin of an airplane with the World Cup trophy in 1990. Getty Images

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  The two greats, Brazil's Pele, left, and Franz Beckenbauer of Germany meet again in Chicago on June 18, 1994. AFP

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  Franz Beckenbauer, right, accepts the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award from fellow greats Sir Bobby Charlton, left, and Johan Cruyff. Getty Images

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  World Champions Lothar Matthaus, left, and Franz Beckenbauer pictured together in 2020. Getty Images

Being blessed with an evocative nickname like Der Kaiser will always open pathways and so it was for Beckenbauer. Before the 1966 World Cup final, England boss Alf Ramsey had earmarked West Germany's 20-year-old sometime-defender-sometime-midfielder as a player who warranted special attention. And while the gnarly Nobby Stiles, England's pugnacious midfielder, was probably more suited to the role, it was Bobby Charlton, Ramsey's chief attacking threat, who was tasked with shadowing Beckenbauer.

The thinking was that, though Stiles would carry out the task better, England could not afford for their midfield anchor to be snapping at Beckenbauer's heels high up the pitch one minute only to find his defenders exposed when West Germany or Der Kaiser transitioned effortlessly between defence and attack the next.

Though not eponymous, few argue that Beckenbauer created the libero role, or at least mastered it. It was at club level with Bayern Munich that Beckenbauer redefined the role of sweeper to make the most of his offensive as well as defensive ability. Three successive league titles between 1972 and 1974 were followed by a hat-trick of European Cups from 1974 to 1976.

It was a golden era for German football in which Beckenbauer would earn the plaudits of teammates and opponents alike. Beckenbauer captained West Germany to World Cup success in 1974, two years after leading the team to victory at the European Championship. Football is usually defined by great attacking teams or players but there is a case to argue that the period between 1972 and 1976 belongs to Beckenbauer.

Zagallo and Beckenbauer were both establishment figures, tied by association and politics to either club or country – or both – but to view them as merely company men is folly.

Both were transformative and innovative, seeing the game far beyond the confines of the pitch. Just as they were as players, both were subtle masters at manoeuvring themselves into positions of power and influence.

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  Mario Zagallo, who won the World Cup four times as a player and then a coach with Brazil, has died. He was 92. AP

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  Mario Zagallo of Brazil, second left, shoots at England's goal during a World Cup quarter-final match in Vina Del Mar, Chile, June 10, 1962. AP

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  Mario Zagallo, right, alongside former Brazil teammate Pele left, after the former's appointment as coach of the Brazilian national team in March 1970.

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  A portrait of Brazil's national team coach Mario Zagallo taken in June 1970 during the World Cup. AFP

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  Brazilian coach Mario Zagallo comforts striker Ronaldo at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, near Paris, after France defeated Brazil in the 1998 World Cup final. AFP

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  Brazilian players toss Mario Zagallo in the air at the end of a friendly match with South Korea in Seoul in 2002. AFP

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  Brazilian football team caretaker coach Mario Zagallo poses with his starting line-up in Seoul in 2002. AFP

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  Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, third right, and supervisor Mario Zagallo, fourth right, chat with players at the 2004 Copa America. AFP

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  Four-time World Cup winner Mario Zagallo holds the Jules Rimet and Fifa trophies as he poses for photographers in Rio de Janeiro in March 2003. AFP

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  Brazilian former player and coach Mario Zagallo smiles next a statue representing him during a ceremony in his tribute in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October 20, 2022. Reuters

Both would go on to coach their countries; both would lead them to World Cup success. If Zagallo the player can be judged conservative by Brazilian standards, Zagallo the coach was anything but. Zagallo won the first of his two World Cups with Brazil as a player in 1958 before repeating the feat four years later but it is his Brazil of 1970, that of Pele, Rivelino, Tostao, Carlos Alberto, Jairzinho et al, that is feted as the greatest team of all time.

If no team before or since could hold a candle to that side, Beckenbauer's West Germany that lifted the trophy in 1990 was a construct of ruthless efficiency and a dash of daring. Jurgen Kohler, Lothar Matthaus and Rudi Voller will never be remembered in the same vein as Brazil's Class of 1970 but their achievement in Rome was the embodiment of Beckenbauer's devotion to the fundamentals of football.

Indeed Beckenbauer and Zagallo were on a collision course to meet at that tournament. The UAE were drawn in the same Group D as the beaten 1986 finalists. But having led the Emirates through qualification, Zagallo resigned from his post before the tournament. West Germany won their encounter 5-1. It remains the UAE's only appearance at the World Cup finals.

Few attain the excellence Beckenbauer did as a player; none have come close to assembling and organising an attacking array of talent as Zagallo did with Brazil in 1970. Two men, bonded by brilliance.