December, 2006 - Nr. 12
Mexico Honors Beckenbauer for Soccer Role
TWIG - German soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer is to receive the Aguila Azteca, Mexico’s highest honor for foreign nationals, the Mexican Embassy in Berlin said on Tuesday.
The award is for Beckenbauer’s career as a player and for his contribution to relations between Germany and Mexico, the embassy said. A date for the presentation has yet to be fixed.
A statement said Beckenbauer had maintained close links with football in Mexico and had demonstrated his friendship to the Central American country on countless occasions.
The former captain and coach of what was then West Germany’s national team first visited Mexico in 1968 and took part in the 1970 and 1986 World Cups in the country as a player and coach respectively.
In addition, as president of the 2006 World Cup organizing
committee, Beckenbauer was responsible for the "friendly reception of
thousands of Mexican football fans" during the tournament.
