![]() Both teams played in the most popular formation of the day, 4-2-4. West Germany were the favourites against Uruguay. He is a gem Hillsborough, Sheffield, Saturday 23rd July 1966. Franz Beckenbauer followed in Pelés footsteps by joining the New York Cosmos for four seasons. I give you, Franz Beckenbauer, the deep-lying commander who defined a generation. Podfly, Audible and SportsHistor圜ollectibles. Best, who died at age 59 in 2005, would play for several NASL teams. Until, of course, it inevitably crashed back down to Earth like a once high-flying rock star’s private jet – bankrupting not only the league’s investors, but also the sport’s future in America in the process.Īuthor Ian Plenderleith ( Rock 'n' Roll Soccer: The Short Life and Fast Times of the North American Soccer League) joins host Tim Hanlon to discuss all the color and chaos of the world's first truly international league. Der Kaiser, Franz Beckenbauer, scores on his debut with the New York Cosmos on May 29, 1977, but his Cosmos would lose to the Tampa Bay Rowdies 4-2 in a North American Soccer League. Plush modern stadiums, professional cheerleaders, pre-game tailgating, clever promotional marketing – and increasingly attractive, though eventually unsustainable salaries – made US pro soccer an irresistible proposition. He was a first-team all-star in each of his five NASL seasons and the league’s most valuable player in 1977. More than just Pelé and the star-studded, bigger-than-life New York Cosmos, the NASL lured international soccer’s biggest names like Johan Cruyff, Eusebio, George Best, and Franz Beckenbauer to play the “beautiful game” the way it was meant to be played-uninhibited, and with fan-pleasing innovations like sudden-death overtime, a 35-yard-line offsides demarcation, tie-breaking shootouts, and a points system that incentivized scoring regardless of result.įor international players, the NASL provided a bright and shiny alternative (or at least, summertime off-season respite) to the drearily conservative and cynically defensive state of the European game of the day. By many accounts, the North American Soccer League was a one-of-a-kind phenomenon in the history of the world game – and, during its 1970s heyday (although it began shakily in 1968 and ended in shambles after the 1984 season) – a league years ahead of its time. Becker, MD is a physician associated with Northwestern Medicine.
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