Tireless 'Kaiser' Wants Perfect World Cup

Germany legend Franz Beckenbauer seems to excel at everything he does and the president of the 2006 World Cup organizing committee (OK) now wants the finals in Germany to leave a lasting impression. Beckenbauer was the undoubted architect behind Germany's successful bid, working tirelessly to help his homeland edge South Africa by a single vote.

"Bringing back the tournament was probably my greatest moment," Beckenbauer said, referring to the 1974 World Cup, which West Germany hosted at a time when Germany was still divided in two countries, East and West.

"As player or as coach you can in theory compete at a World Cup every four years. But to bring the World Cup to your country and to organize it, you get that chance only once in your lifetime."

Hardly anybody does it better

When you consider that Beckenbauer won three successive European Cups at Bayern Munich (1974, 75, 76) and was twice named European footballer of the year (1972, 1976) he has a lot of 'great moments' to choose from. 'The Kaiser' is also the only man in history to win the World Cup as a player, with West Germany in 1974, and then as a manager in 1990.

"Franz Beckenbauer is one of life's extraordinary characters," lauded FIFA president Sepp Blatter. "He was elegance itself on the ball and has proved a charismatic leader as coach and now OK president."

The 2006 World Cup finals, running from June 9 until July 9, are just six months away and Beckenbauer wants his country to pull out all the stops, considering that there may not be another one in Germany in many people's lifetimes.

"The whole country needs to make an effort so that the millions of visitors and viewers say it was a fantastic World Cup, better than we expected the Germans would be able to do," Beckenbauer urged.

Known around the world

Beckenbauer, who turned 60 in September, continues to be the driving force behind Germany's bid for a successful World Cup and will personally visit all 32 qualified countries by February 2006.

"It is phenomenal to see how Franz Beckenbauer is welcomed everywhere he goes," declared OK vice-president Wolfgang Niersbach. "It is in a large part down to him that the coverage in the countries we have visited has almost rivaled an actual World Cup game."

The draw for the 2006 finals takes place in Leipzig on Friday at 9:20pm (2020 GMT) and Beckenbauer is looking forward to seeing who hosts Germany are paired with.

"Jürgen Klinsmann has enough time to prepare the team for the World Cup," Beckenbauer said. "We have home advantage and with a bit of luck can reach the semi-finals."

If Klinsmann goes two steps further, with a bit of luck, and win the World Cup in his home country, then he would have equaled the accomplishment of Franz Beckenbauer, winning the Cup both as player (1990) and manager.