The defender who will play on the tail

Unfortunately, this 2024 has brought us very sad news, the death of Franz Beckenbauer, one of the greats of this sport we love so much called soccer. Those of us lucky enough to have been on the playing field with him will always remember him as a revolutionary defender. But a revolutionary is not understood as a guerrilla, but the opposite: he is the first defender who can play in a tailcoat. Until then, the defenders defended. And that’s it. And the coaches, very happy. Because with Beckenbauer things have changed. Suddenly a man catches the ball from behind and with great elegance, and as if nothing happened, he moves forward with his head always held high. I remember seeing him appear many times on the edge of the rival area, almost unnoticed, and unleash a clean, dry and accurate shot. Because he also has that: how he came! Beckenbauer He played on the field like he was off it: being a true gentleman. Unlike those stalwart defenders, who seem to have life in every ball, I don’t remember seeing him throw himself on the ground. He didn’t need it. He was so talented that he expected the plays to come sooner. It did not give a feeling of stress. Everything is easy, seamless. But just because he’s elegant doesn’t mean he can’t suffer: we saw him in the famous match against Italy in the ’70 World Cup playing out of place.

It’s not hard for me to say that Beckenbauer He, for me, is the No. 1 in the entire history of football in his position. He created a school for his style. So now it’s almost a definition: “It’s a Beckenbauer”. For young people who have not seen him and understand me, he is Federer of football. Starting with him – some almost at the same time as him – saw the defenses as medium. Atlético, for example, had Luiz Pereira, a superclass. Soon they came Baresi, Koeman… Between the 60s and 70s football marked by Bayern and Germany by Overath, Hoeness, Müller…before the great Holland of Cruyff, Rensenbrink, Krol, Neeskens either representative. Beckenbauer He was the leader of that Germany. A few years later, he was able to repeat as a world champion as a coach. But I’ll stick with that defender who changed the concept of defense. Rest in peace.

IN THE BAYERN OF BECKENBAUER AND MAIER

The day Martí Filosía won a round by himself

Against Beckenbauer I played a few times, in tournaments and also in some ‘rest of the world’ matches, very popular at the time. But in the duels against the ‘Kaiser’ I remember most of all what I couldn’t play. And I remembered him in something he had never seen before Martí Filosía. It was in 1969, in Casablanca. Bayern and Barça tied and had to break the ‘x’ in the penalty shootout. Back then, the rounds were not like today: they were not shot alternately and each team could choose between several shooters or one shooter. They started and they got 3 out of 5. And that’s where it came out Martí Filosía and, with personality, he asked to throw 5 himself and, in addition to that, Maier, a goalkeeper. He caught the ball, shot the first: goal. The second: purpose. The third: purpose. And the fourth: purpose. The fifth is unnecessary. On that day, Martí Philosophy he singlehandedly defeated the ‘Kaiser’ Beckenbauerin Maier and ‘Torpedo’ Müller.