Former German football great and World Cup winner Franz Beckenbauer has come out and apologized for recent statements that he made about the English team. Beckenbauer, who managed West Germany to a World Cup triumph in Italy in 1990 after beating England on penalty kicks in the semi final said England were stupid for not winning their group and having to face Germany in their first playoff match. He added that the English players were burnt out because they have to play a long and hard Premier League season as well as two domestic cups and Champions League football. Beckenbauer made the apology on June 25.

He stated that he thought England would be a major player in this year’s tournament, maybe even winning it and that he’s a big fan of English football. He said they have a great manager and team, but like most other fans, was greatly disappointed in them after their first two matches. He added that his feelings of disappointment may have led to his outburst or it could have been just because he was in a bad mood at the time and he apologized for his reaction to the team’s performances. He said he’s looking forward to the contest and thinks it’ll be quite an interesting one.

Beckenbauer also raised eyebrows recently when he criticized the Premier League for having too many foreign-born players and saying the England team is suffering from it. Some people thought this an odd thing to say for the German great, considering that Germany strikers Cacau was born in Brazil, and Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski were both born in Poland.

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