German football legend, Franz Beckenbauer died over the weekend at the age of 78, his family announced on Monday.
Beckenbauer, one of the greatest players to emerge from Germany won the World Cup with his country in 1974 as a player—when the country was still West Germany before its eventual reunification with East Germany in 1990—and also in1990 as a coach when a re-unified Germany won the World Cup that year.
The German football hero starred in that 1974 World Cup triumph alongside other renowned German football players that included goalkeeper Sepp Maier, defenders Berti Vogts and Paul Breitner and legendary forward, Gerd Mueller.
The statement from Beckenbauer’s wife / family said it was 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 allow us to grieve in silence and refrain from asking any questions.”
Born on 11 September, 1945, Beckenbauer was a versatile player who started out as a midfielder, but made his name as a central defender.
He was often credited as having invented the role of the modern sweeper (libero).
With success at club and international level, he was one of nine players to have won the FIFA World Cup, the European Champions Cup, and the Ballon d’Or. He has been termed as one of the greatest player in the history of the sport for having an iconic career.
Twice named European Footballer of the Year, Beckenbauer appeared 103 times for West Germany, playing in three FIFA World Cups and two European Championships.
He was one of three men, along with Brazil’s Mário Zagallo and France’s Didier Deschamps, to have won the World Cup as a player and as a manager; he lifted the World Cup trophy as captain in 1974, and repeated the feat as a manager in 1990.
He was the first captain to lift the World Cup and European Championship at the international level and the European Cup at the club level.
He was named in the World Team of the 20th Century in 1998, the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2002, the Ballon d’Or Dream Team in 2020, and in 2004 was listed in the FIFA 100 of the world’s greatest living players.
At club level with Bayern Munich, Beckenbauer won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1967 and three consecutive European Cups from 1974 to 1976.
The latter feat made him the first player to win three European Cups as captain of his club. He became team manager and later president of Bayern Munich. After two spells with the New York Cosmos he was inducted into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Beckenbauer led Germany’s successful bid to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup and chaired the organizing committee.
He worked as a pundit for Sky Germany, and for 34 years as a columnist for the tabloid Bild, both until 2016. In August 2016, it was announced Beckenbauer was being investigated for fraud and money laundering in connection with the 2006 World Cup.
The investigation was closed without a verdict in 2020 as the statute of limitations expired.