The physiotherapist Klaus Eder was brought into the national team by Beckenbauer in 1988. They remained close to each other until the end. A conversation about strains, freakouts and the emperor aura.
Mr. Eder, how do you remember your first encounter with Franz Beckenbauer?
That was in the 80s. At that time, the doctor Müller-Wohlfahrt, who worked for Bayern Munich, occasionally called me to Säbener Strasse to look at players. On that occasion I met Beckenbauer. Many sank into the ground with excitement when they saw him, his fame preceded him. But I was pleasantly surprised at how approachable, how polite, how normal Franz was. That was really great.
How does that fit together – this Bavarian down-to-earth attitude and the much-vaunted imperial aura?
If Franz said to sit down, then you sat down. And without checking whether there is even a chair there. His word carried weight.
Beckenbauer brought you into the national team in 1988 as a physiotherapist. You stayed with him for decades as “Master Eder” who can listen to your muscles.
At the time, I had a lectureship at the University of Bayreuth with the sports economists. The lecture hall was full, everyone was listening to me, then the side door opens and the secretary whispers: “Mr. Eder! Mr. Eder!” I ask what’s going on, she says: “Mr. Beckenbauer is on the phone.” Me: “Mei, which Beckenbauer, please?” And she: “Well, Beckenbauer, Franz Beckenbauer.” Then I rushed to the receiver.
Beckenbauer on the far left and Eder on the right at the handover of the team bus before the 1990 World Cup
© imago/Sportfoto Rudel
Is it true that he warned you about the job he gave you?
I had previously looked after the German fencers. They were very fine academics, Franz joked, but in football I would now have to deal with rougher boys.
For a long time, Beckenbauer was considered a figure of light, floating above things, free from all impositions. As a team boss, was he even interested in mundane things like strains and bruises?