Some of the island’s former star footballers who had the honour of being on the same pitch as Franz Beckenbauer have paid homage to the late German’s remarkable legacy.

Beckenbauer, who died on Monday at the age of 78, was twice European footballer of the year and won the Ballon d’Or in 1972 and 1976. He won the World Cup as a player and coach and was a three-times winner of the European Cup with Bayern Munich.

After leaving Bayern, Beckenbauer joined North American Soccer League side New York Cosmos, where Randy Horton had the honour of playing alongside the legendary defender.

“I met him when we had our reunion games. We both played in that and it was good to be in his company for sure,” Horton told The Royal Gazette.

“I got to know him and he was a great guy. I knew him and he knew who I was.

“As far as I am concerned, when it came to midfielders he was the standard-bearer. I always said Beckenbauer played with a calm that was absolutely incredible. Skill and calm.

”That man was just an amazing footballer, and I loved him from the first time I saw him play when he played in England.

“I was at the World Cup in 1966 when he first played for Germany in that World Cup. He was a young boy [20] but you could see that he was a superstar in the making.”

Beckenbauer scored on his debut for Cosmos in a 4-2 defeat away to NASL rivals Tampa Bay Rowdies, whose team included Bermudian Clyde Best.

“I remember his first game, which was a shame because he came to play against us in Tampa and it was his first game in the North American Soccer League and we beat them,” Best recalled.

“They had Pelé, they had Beckenbauer, they had Giorgio Chinaglia and here we are smacking them like that, but that’s the way the game goes sometimes.

“It takes everybody a while to get used to one another and I would give them that because once they got going they ruled the North American Soccer League.”

That match was just the first time Best played against Beckenbauer with the pair crossing paths on many subsequent occasions.

“I got to know him pretty good through playing over the years whenever we played the Cosmos,” Best said.

“I think I first met him at Bobby Moore’s testimonial and he was a legend, not only as a player, but as a human being.

“It was a pleasure for me to have the opportunity to play against him the times that I did and I enjoyed it tremendously. I have been pretty blessed to have played against all the greats in my time, and Franz Beckenbauer was definitely one of them.

“He was open-minded the way the game should be played. I think where a lot of people go wrong is they forget the game is about entertaining the fans, and he was one that entertained the fans.

“He was one of the first players we saw pick the ball up from the back and run forward with it and spray passes and stuff like that. He helped to change our game and make it a bit more entertaining.”

Another Bermudian to rub shoulders with Beckenbauer was former Washington Diplomats player Gary Darrell, who also holds fond memories of the encounters.

“Having an opportunity to play against Franz Beckenbauer is just like all the other superstars that I had a chance to play against,” Darrell said.

“It was a wonderful opportunity I thoroughly enjoyed and I feel like a lucky person to be in that position. We all know how he was as a player and he started the attacking sweeper role that transformed the game considerably.”

Among Beckenbauer’s countless admirers was former North Village and Bermuda defender Wendell “Joe” Trott, who had the opportunity to play against him when the Cosmos toured the island in the late 1970s.

“He came here with the Cosmos and played two games; a game against the national team at the National Stadium and another against a pick of the league at Devonshire Rec, and I played in both games,” Trott recalled.

“It was an honour being on the same pitch as him and the first game I was watching him more than playing, especially his right foot, which was right and left for him.

“He was bending balls around people with the outside of his foot and making passes. I was saying ‘I can get that ball’, looking at the flight of the ball and things, but in the end I couldn’t reach them.

“The second game I was able to concentrate more on playing the game than watching him play.

“It was a big treat to have him come to Bermuda as an admirer of his and the way he played, and we both played in the same position.

“I managed to have a chat with him for about five minutes after a training session at the National Stadium, which was another real treat.

“He was the boy, smooth.”