BAYERN LIFE February 2025
A distinguished visitor while in the bathtub: The Cosmos captain Werner Roth( right) and Beckenbauer meet Henry Kissinger.
New York Cosmos. So far he hasn‘ t found a buyer(“ it‘ s hard to sell anything in Hollywood“), but he does of course have enough material for a good story spanning several episodes. For example, he remembers exactly how Pelé called his teammates to come to his hotel room one evening before a game in Seattle and lured them into the bathroom, telling them he had a problem – there was a shark in his bath. They were in for a big surprise, because there actually was a small shark in there snapping at them. The hotel was located on a cliff and the Brazilian legend had taken the opportunity to do some fishing from the balcony. Big fish, small fish – there was a goldrush atmosphere in the USA in general and even in soccer for the first time back then. It all started with Pelé, who was the biggest catch right at the start. In 1966, the World Cup in England had awakened Americans’ interest in football for the first time, and viewing figures were high, although a half-hearted attempt to establish a league failed spectacularly. But when Pelé ended his playing career with Santos FC in 1974, New York sensed a coup that would ultimately pay off. Previously, attempts to bring in George Best had fallen through at the last minute, and
Servus, Pelé:
Beckenbauer and Edison Arantes do Nascimento at Pelé‘ s farewell match in 1977.
now the powers that be in Brazil, who never wanted to see the national hero in any other jersey than that of Santos, had to be persuaded by any means necessary. It was only when the then US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger convinced the Brazilian head of state that Pelé would be a perfect ambassador for his country in the USA that the government authorised the move to New York. Two years later, Franz Beckenbauer also joined the illustrious club – and Werner Roth‘ s script grew highlight by highlight, chapter by chapter over the following years.
Games on the prison island
Roth still remembers just how excited he was when he picked up the Munich native at JFK. After Beckenbauer had first came to his attention at the 1966 World Cup, he’ d studied him in newspapers and on rare TV clips.“ We both played the same position – but before I saw Franz play, I would never have thought that a libero could even be allowed to cross the halfway line,“ he says.“ He helped me learn the game all over again.” He himself had joined the Cosmos in 1972, and the first few years were no different to the“ German-Hungarian SC“: previously he’ d earned 50 dollars per game, no more than a nice allowance while studying architecture, now he was paid 75 dollars. That wasn‘ t very much back then either. As a USA international he even came to realise that the Haiti national team were better
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