WORLD CUP ’90 : West German Coach Reportedly Will Serve as Consultant to U.S.

Franz Beckenbauer, West Germany’s coach, will join the organizing committee for the 1994 World Cup in the United States as a consultant, sources said Saturday.

Beckenbauer, 43, announced earlier this year that he would resign as West Germany’s coach after the World Cup. His team will play Argentina today at the Olympic Stadium for the championship.

Although it has been speculated that he will coach the U.S. team in the 1994 World Cup, he has repeatedly said that he would be interested in returning to the United States only in a role with the organizing committee.

Beckenbauer, captain of West Germany’s 1974 World Cup championship team, later played for three seasons with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League.

At a news conference Saturday, the president of the International Federation of Association Football, Joao Havelange of Brazil, said he is not concerned about the United States’ ability to stage a World Cup despite the lack of soccer enthusiasm in the country.

He said the only discouraging words he has heard from U.S. officials are that they might not meet the standards set by Italy.