FRANZ BECKENBAUER: BAYERN, GERMANY LEGEND PASSES AWAY AT 78

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….As tons of individuals pays tribute to one of the greatest football players of all time.

Known by his moniker “Der Kaiser,” Beckenbauer led West Germany to victory in the 1974 World Cup and managed them again in 1990.

The former defender is one of three men to have won the World Cup as both a player and a manager, along with Mario Zagallo of Brazil, who passed away this month, and Didier Deschamps of France.

In 1972, Beckenbauer also won the European Championship and represented West Germany in 103 matches.

At the club level, Beckenbauer is revered as a Bayern Munich icon after winning four Bundesliga titles and three straight European Cups with the German powerhouses between 1974 and 1976. He made 582 appearances for Bayern.

In addition, Beckenbauer led Bayern to UEFA Cup victory in 1996 and Bundesliga victory in 1994.

A family statement read: “It is with deep sadness that we announce that my husband and our father, Franz Beckenbauer, passed away peacefully in his sleep yesterday, Sunday, surrounded by his family.

“We ask that you be able to grieve in silence and refrain from asking any questions.”

Known as a “Libero” nowadays, Beckenbauer gained notoriety by defining his own position as a sweeper, who sat just beyond his team’s defensive line and picked up any ball or man that penetrated.

In addition, Beckenbauer received other personal honors, such as two Ballon d’Or trophies in 1972 and 1976 for his work as a defender, which is an uncommon distinction even now.

‘Beckenbauer was an outstanding personality’

Eight years before to his own World Cup success, England prevailed in the 1966 World Cup final at Wembley, and Beckenbauer came dangerously close to taking home the Jules Rimet Trophy.

He was instructed to man-mark England star Bobby Charlton in the final, which put two of the best football players in history against one other.

In the end, they cancelled each other out, and it was Geoff Hurst who starred, scoring a hat-trick to help England to a famous victory.

“The message he [Beckenbauer] sent out was: ‘Don’t even try it. Coming out to face me is a waste of your time’,” Charlton later said of their match-up.

Beckenbauer scored four goals at the 1966 World Cup aged just 20 and was awarded the best young player of the tournament.

Lothar Matthaus captained Germany’s 1990 World Cup-winning side and paid tribute to his former manager and friend.

“The shock is deep, even though I knew that Franz wasn’t feeling well. His death is a loss for football and for Germany as a whole,” Matthaus told German media outlet Bild.

“He was one of the greatest as a player and coach, but also off the field. Franz was an outstanding personality not only in football, and he enjoyed worldwide recognition.

“Everyone who knew him knows what a great and generous person Franz was. A good friend left us. I will miss him – we will all miss him.”

The German Football Association (DFB) paid tribute to Beckenbauer as someone who “influenced football in Germany like no other”.

‘Beckenbauer will forever remain the shining light of German football’

DFB director of the senior national team Rudi Voller also played under Beckenbauer in 1990.

“I consider it one of the great privileges of my life to have known and experienced Franz Beckenbauer,” Voller said on the official DFB website.

“Our time together with the national team was crowned with the 1990 World Cup title in Rome, a title that would never have been possible without his outstanding coaching performance.

“The ‘Kaiser’ was an inspiration for more than one generation, he will forever remain the shining light of German football.

“With Franz Beckenbauer, German football is losing its greatest personality, I am losing a good friend.”

Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann hailed Beckenbauer as “the best footballer in German history”.

Nagelsmann added: “His interpretation of the role of the libero changed the game, this role and his friendship with the ball made him a free man.

“Franz Beckenbauer was able to float on the lawn, as a footballer and later also as a coach he was sublime, he stood above things.

“When Franz Beckenbauer entered a room, the room lit up, he rightly earned the title ‘lighting figure of German football’.

“An aura surrounded him until the end, which even the health problems and strokes of fate that he had to cope with could not shake it.

“I am grateful and proud that I was able to get to know him and will remember him fondly.”

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said: “Franz Beckenbauer: a legend of German and world football.

“‘Der Kaiser’ was a really great person, a friend of football, a champion and a real legend. We will never forget you, dear Franz.”

‘Beckenbauer one of the really great football names of the last century’

Sky Sports News’ Nick Powell:

“I think it’s fair to put him up there in the echelons of Bobby Charlton, Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff. The really great football names of the last century.

“He had been ill for several months and one of his former team-mates Lothar Matthaus expressed some months ago that he hoped he would get well again, but without sounding confident that it would happen.

“This is not a shock in Germany, but it is the lead story on every German news outlet. As a player, he was a phenomenon, because he pretty much invented the role of the sweeper who came out with the ball as the centre-back.

“We see it now, but they didn’t then. He could spray a ball short or long and had a great eye for a pass. In a sense, he invented that position and it’s hard to imagine now what a rarity that was.

“Without sounding too cliched, he played at a time when centre-backs were expected to be big, rough blokes. They headed it and kicked it. They were rough and tough and no one worried if it went into Row Z.

“Franz Beckenbauer thought they could do better than that.”

‘He was one of the most charming men you’ll ever meet’
Jan Age Fjortoft, who worked with Beckenbauer at Sky in Germany:

“It’s a very sad day. This is one of the great football icons of all time. I think Sir Bobby Charlton, Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff join him in the starting XI in heaven.

“He is one of the greatest and I had the privilege of working with him for three years with Sky Germany.

“They say you should never meet your favourites and your legends but he was one of the most charming men you will ever meet. He was humble, he shared his knowledge.

“He was one of those that you wanted to sit next to, because you know his analysis was always spot on. Even if it wasn’t, it didn’t matter because this was the Kaiser, this was the King.

“You tried to pick his brain and listen to everything he said. He was a fantastic man.

“He was man of the match without needing a shower because he was always in the right position.”