German football legend, Franz Beckenbauer, dies at 78

Franz Beckenbauer, one of the greatest football players of all time, has died at the age of 78.

Beckenbauer, nicknamed ‘Der Kaiser’, won the World Cup with West Germany as captain in 1974 and a manager in 1990.

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

Franz Beckenbauer was a true icon; as a player, a manager and as a figure head for Bayern Munich. Apart from winning the World Cup, he also won the European Championship in 1972 and played 103 times for West Germany.

At club level, Beckenbauer is considered a Bayern Munich legend having won three successive European Cups with the German giants from 1974-76 along with four Bundesliga titles. He played 582 times for Bayern.

He also managed Bayern to Bundesliga glory in 1994 and a UEFA Cup triumph in 1996.

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.”

Beckenbauer was famed for carving out his own role as a sweeper, now often known as a “Libero” sitting slightly behind his team’s defensive line and sweeping up any man or ball that broke through.

Beckenbauer also won an array of personal honours, including two Ballon d’Or awards in 1972 and 1976 as a defender; a rarity at the time and still to this day.

Eight years before winning the World Cup as a player, Beckenbauer narrowly missed out on lifting the Jules Rimet Trophy at Wembley, with England clinching an extra-time victory in the 1966 World Cup final.

It was in that final that he was told to man-mark England star Bobby Charlton, pitting two of the world’s greatest footballers on on one.