The brief meeting between the two German nationals took place at the end of the pope's traditional mid-week general audience in St. Peter's Square that was attended by an estimated 50,000 people.

"This was one of the most moving moments of my life," Beckenbauer said after the meeting with his fellow Bavarian. The two exchanged a few words face-to-face, and Beckenbauer gifted the pope with a pennant of the 2006 World Cup, OC vice-president Wolfgang Niersbach said.

Benedict, a known soccer fan, wished the organizing committee "lots of luck for the World Cup in Germany," and thanked Beckenbauer for the gift. "I'll be watching many of the games on TV," OC officials quoted the pope as saying.

Also accompanying Beckenbauer was former Roma and Germany coach Rudi Voeller, a member of the OC delegation in his role as 2006 FIFA World Cup International Ambassador. The pope gave the Bayer Leverkusen Director of Sport a rosary as a personal gift.

Beckenbauer's visit to Rome is part of his global trip to personally welcome the 31 countries that have qualified, along with automatically qualified hosts Germany, for the 2006 World Cup, scheduled for June 9 to July 9 next year.

The "kaiser" of German football has already been to Tehran, Riyadh, Seoul and Tokyo, and hopes to have visited all 31 countries by February.

Source: Haaretz.com