The rise and fall of Der Kaiser
This is a cautionary tale about Franz Beckenbauer and about why retired superstars should think long and hard before staking their status and image on power games off the pitch.
In some ways Beckenbauer shares a legacy with the late Diego Maradona. First viewing suggests few points of connection. They were superstars in different, succeeding eras and their only competitive collisions were the 1986 and 1990 World Cup finals. Maradona was captain of Argentina, Beckenbauer coach of West Germany.
Yet both present the confusion of a great playing legacy entangled with a subsequent life less than bright.
Throughout most of the 20th century, footballers were singledimension individuals who morphed either into management or vanished altogether once their playing days were
