"I realised that the whole city had reached fever-pitch. The small ads in the tabloids were filled with column after column of 'final tickets wanted'," he recalled on the Munich city website.

"The whole German Football Federation (DFB) - the whole of Germany - was in the same boat. And our team was now focused, concentrated and rowing hard in one direction."

Exactly 26 years later - on July 6, 2000 - a Germany now unified was galvanised again. In a head-to-head vote at FIFA's Zurich headquarters, Joseph Blatter, the president of the world governing body for the sport, held up a white card bearing the word "Deutschland".

Germany had just got the nod over South Africa to host the 2006 World Cup finals. And it was no small part to Beckenbauer's untiring efforts, touring the world, attending countless receptions, lobbying, giving media interviews, talking to the officials, functionaries and the people who count in the federations and confederations.

Now - as head of the World Cup organising committee - the last thing the former West Germany captain will need is a local newspaper to remind him on the eve of the 2006 final just how important the game of football and the World Cup have become.

Since 2000, it has been five years of "rowing hard in one direction" for Beckenbauer and his organising team. The DFB, the federal and state governments, the venues, industry, sponsors - and just about everyone in the country - have been gearing up for a unique opportunity to present a modern, friendly and creative face to the world.

The differences between 1974 and 2006 could not be greater. New coaching methods, tactics and developments in the game make playing comparisons between then and now invidious.

Politically the finals are in two different countries as well, as Beckenbauer himself has pointed out.

The draw for the 2006 finals will be held in Leipzig in December, a city in eastern Germany, which was part of the old communist bloc in 1974. Without the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and reunification a year later it is unlikely a World Cup final would again be taking place on German soil.

"Leipzig and the people there demonstrate that the World Cup will be all-German football world championships," Beckenbauer has said. "We want to demonstrate that the 2006 World Cup is taking place in a different country from the 1974 World Cup."

The draw for the 32-team tournament itself will demonstrate how the World Cup has changed and expanded.

The December 9 event will be a global media spectacle with some 1,200 journalists so far expected in Leipzig and 136 nations planning to transmit the event live.

Security in 2006, as in 1974, will be tight. The threat of terrorism posed a headache to organisers and the government as it does now.

The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US, the recent bombings in London, Egypt and Turkey plus the ever-present threat of hooliganism have made security a major issue for authorities as they gear up for 2006.

Wherever you look, the 2006 World Cup is bigger and more complicated in every way. Will it be better? Much will depend on the performance of the host team on the field of play.

Source: HindustanTimes.com