Beckenbauer to get Bayern testimonial 33 years late

German football legend Franz Beckenbauer is to be honoured with a belated testimonial match by his former team Bayern Munich, 33 years after his departure.

The 64-year-old Beckenbauer left Bayern in 1977 for the New-York Cosmos, but no farewell match was held to mark his departure.

This oversight will be rectified in August 2010 when Bayern play Real Madrid at the Allianz-Arena, when Beckenbauer will be named honorary captain of the German club.

“His departure in 1977 didn’t occur as it should have … He is without a doubt the personality that has most marked the club,” Bayern president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said at the club’s annual general meeting on Friday.

Beckenbauer played 427 first division matches and scored 60 goals for Bayern between 1964 and 1977.

He won four Bundesliga titles, four German Cup and three European titles with the club. He played in the American league from 1977 to 1980 before joining Hamburg in 1982.

Beckenbauer also won the World Cup with Germany in 1974 and the European championship in 1976.