Klaus Augenthaler remembers Franz Beckenbauer: 'His aura changed every team'

Klaus Augenthaler became a world champion with his final international appearance in Rome in 1990. He was a seven-time Bundesliga champion with FC Bayern and made over 500 competitive appearances for the club. The now 67-year-old scored the goal of the decade when he beat Eintracht Frankfurt goalkeeper Uli Stein from over 50 metres. Augenthaler will once again represent his Bayern at Beckenbauer Cup at the SAP Garden. In this interview, 'Auge' remembers Beckenbauer as a teammate, coach, manager and president. A conversation about a special person, a great coach and shared cigarettes with the Kaiser.

Interview with Klaus Augenthaler

Klaus Augenthaler, what's the very first memory when you hear the name Franz Beckenbauer?
"There are lots of memories. The very first is the final against Atlético in Brussels in 1974. I watched that at the clubhouse of my FC Vilshofen. I'll be honest, I wasn't a Beckenbauer fan at that time. I was a fan of Borussia Dortmund, of Siggi Held - he had the same hair as me. Three weeks later, though, I got invited to a trial at Bayern along with two teammates. Suddenly I stood on the training pitch with all the stars, including Franz Beckenbauer. I only knew him from Sportschau. That was an experience you don't forget in a hurry."

Because Beckenbauer took you under his wing as a young player straight away?
"No, not at all, there were others for that. I was 17 years old, I was awestruck more than anything. Werner Olk, the ex-captain and assistant coach, said to me: 'Klaus, if you don't work hard and have sharp elbows, then you can go back home.' I then took that to heart - not by sliding in on Franz Beckenbauer, but on Jupp Kapellmann."

You didn't have much contact with Beckenbauer?
"The first time was at a friendly in Zurich. Franz had to play the full 90 minutes because of agreements with some sponsor. I came on with a quarter of an hour left and just saw how he gestured in my direction and said: 'Another blind man coming on...' I was so rattled that I hoped nobody would give me the ball."

So you were more afraid of him than trying to learn from him?
“I learnt very little from him. But I did learn his impressive patience when it came to signing autographs. When there were school holidays, we had 3,000 spectators at Säbener Straße. He gave every child, every woman, every man an autograph - and wrote his name out in full: Franz Beckenbauer, you could read it. Today, when they give signatures, nobody recognises them anymore. Then, after a few years, we went our separate ways...”

Beckenbauer went to New York, you stayed with FC Bayern.
“He then played with Pelé, with Carlos Alberto - all well-known players. Then he went to Hamburg, where we played against each other again.”

But you also played together against big names. In the World Cup final against Argentina and Diego Maradona in Rome, for example.
“Before the final, he kept telling us: ‘We can't lose this game because we're better than the Argentinians’. He also told Guido Buchwald that he was responsible for Diego. And me, I should always watch out, because you can't hold the Argentinians for 90 minutes. But above all, it was always about how we couldn't lose because we were so much better. That was so convincing that we all believed it at some point.”

Beckenbauer once said in an interview that the more external pressure there was, the calmer he became.
“Yes, even as an assistant coach I noticed that before big games. Franz was totally calm. You couldn't tell he was nervous at all. That was just Beckenbauer. ‘What do they want? We're going to win this game!’ And he conveyed that with incredible conviction. There's only one winner and that's us.”

The public always saw him in a good mood, never grumpy.
“We saw him differently.”

Really?
“In the round of 16 against Czechoslovakia, when we only won 1-0 with a man more, they suddenly had four or five huge chances to score after the red card. After that, Franz kicked furiously at anything he could get his hands on in the dressing room. Because he was a perfectionist. He couldn't understand it. Later, he gave everyone a big hug, built them up again and told them that mistakes happen to everyone.”

Beckenbauer twice stepped in as interim coach at Bayern, once for Trappatoni and once for Rehhagel. There was unrest in both teams, but in the end there was a title each time. How did he do that?
“Because his presence immediately galvanised the team. He was the icon, he was the Kaiser. Every player believed what he said. His name and charisma alone were enough. He never showed off, he never stood out. Instead, Franz encouraged everyone and gave them confidence in themselves. Like in Rome in 1990. That was the decisive factor.“

Was Beckenbauer always that assured or did it just develop?
“At the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, we lived in the middle of the desert in a hacienda with the press. He regularly got into arguments with them, but all he wanted to do was explain to them why he was playing this way and that, why this person was playing. He put his foot in it with a few and soon had a big grudge against the media. When we players were back in our rooms too late on a night off, we had to run through the desert with Berti Vogts at 7 o'clock the next morning for a training session. Just four years later in Milan, we were also a little late one evening and ran into the coaching team again. ‘Take it easy,’ said Franz this time, ‘just have a beer with us’. That was a clear development.”

Later, he was also able to come to terms with the press and became an important media figure.
“He had experienced everything as a player and as a coach. That was only logical. He was also very authentic on television. The outburst against Czechoslovakia - that was the only thing in that direction that I experienced myself as an assistant coach under him. Even in defeats, he always stood in front of his team, always remained confident, always remained calm.”

Were you able to develop and flourish as an assistant coach at all? Beckenbauer was always the formative figure with his aura, with his personality.
“He always involved me. After morning training at Säbener Straße, we had pizza delivered and then spent two hours at least two days a week analysing the opposition together. He was happy that he had someone to discuss things with and it was never a case of ‘I'm Beckenbauer, we'll do it this way and that, you put the cones out’. No, he listened, asked questions and also responded to my ideas. We got to know each other well over the years.”

“One day before the first game, Franz knocked on my bedroom door…”

Surprisingly, he backed you, even at the 1986 World Cup...
“In Mexico, we always played A team against B team. We were there weeks before the tournament to acclimatise. The B team usually won. We were able to really go for it because we knew that the A team would be the ones to start. One day before the first game against Uruguay, Franz knocked on my bedroom door and told me I was playing. That came as a complete surprise to me. Unfortunately, I then got injured.”

You wanted to go home from the tournament out of disappointment.
“Franz wouldn't allow that. You're part of the team, you stay there. We win together, we lose together. That was always the most important thing to him, this cohesion.”

In all those years, did you ever confront him again for calling you blind when you were 17?
“No, our relationship quickly became very good. Georg Schwarzenbeck was supposed to get his number 5, but he didn't want Franz's number. That's why I got it, because back then it was a case of jerseys from number one to 11 and they played. It didn't matter to me. And when I played, I didn't think: ‘Oh, now I've got Beckenbauer's number’. I just wanted to play. Later, we became world champions together. That was a wonderful time. He knew that I was a smoker. Every now and then he'd say, ‘Klaus, haven't you got a Marlboro?’ These are all the images I have in my head when I think of him.”

How close was the relationship then?
“After 1990 and a year in which I was allowed to work under him as an assistant coach, the relationship was very, very close. But it was always limited to football. He wasn't the Franz Beckenbauer that everyone thought he was, ‘Now go out and play football’. No, he was incredibly meticulous in his work. In meetings afterwards, you knew everything about your opponent, even what colour his eyes were and what beard he had. What he also had over and above that was his footballing genius.”

What do you remember about Franz?
“The phone call from my friend Andi Brehme telling me that Franz had died really affected me. We talked a lot about Franz then. All the things I experienced with him went through my mind. Seeing Franz in person for the first time at a trial, then being in a squad with Franz for the first time, playing my first Bundesliga games with him. Yes, those are all really nice memories that I have of Franz.”

Find out more about the Beckenbauer Cup here: