PARIS. July 7 (Reuters/ Internet) Franz Beckenbauer on Tuesday hammered the standard of soccer at the World Cup finals and predicted the European club game would one day replace international football.

Beckenbauer, who won the

World Cup for Germany both as a captain and a coach in 1974 and 1990. said the probable creation of a European league could lead to a major shift in the power base in international football.

"The European league will come and the top clubs will gain in power and the importance of the German league clubs is getting big and bigger." Bayern Munich chairman Beckenbauer said in a briefing with German journalists.

"One day there won't be a national team anymore. Europe is growing together. At the moment the national team has a high value. But the influence of. the clubs is getting bigger and bigger."

Beckenbauer, who has not missed a World Cup since 1966 and has been working for German television in France, said he had been disappointed by the football in the first round which was expanded because there were 32 teams, more than ever before.

"The World Cup has been OK. But it has been without big moments. Some of the games in the first round should not have taken place in a stadium but on an all-weather practice pitch." the former libero said.

Beckenbauer also hit out at

the standard of refereeing in France and said world governing body FIFA was wrong to introduce tougher penalties on tackles from behind shortly before the tournament, confusing the officials.

"There were referees and linesmen at the World Cup from countries you don’t normally hear much about." he said. "But all the federations want to have a say. FIFA made the mistake of having a new rule at the World Cup.

"You have to do that between tournaments. The referees were unsure of what to do and that is the way they controlled the games. That has to lead to chaos and that is what happened. Nobody knew what a tackle from behind was."