Tributes as iconic footballer, Franz Beckenbauer dies at 78

By Arne Richter and John Bagratuni, dpa

MUNICH  – Football is mourning the death of German icon Franz Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup as a captain and as a coach, and is considered one of the global legends of the game.

Beckenbauer’s family told dpa on Monday that he died the previous day at age 78. Known as Der Kaiser (The Emperor) and Die Lichtgestalt (The Shining Light), Beckenbauer redefined the sweeper position in the 1960s and 1970s with his elegant style and leadership.

Apart from his national team success, he earned countless honours with long-time club Bayern Munich, including three straight European Cups and the Intercontinental Cup.

Bayern said their world has become “darker, quieter, poorer” after the death of their icon, speaking of “the unique Kaiser, without whom FC Bayern would never have become the club it is today.”

The statement came after the family announced: “It is with deep sadness that we inform you that my husband and our father Franz Beckenbauer passed away peacefully yesterday, Sunday, surrounded by his family. We ask that you mourn in silence and refrain from asking any questions.”

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, “We are losing the best-known and most popular representative of German sport in the world.”

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Franz Beckenbauer was one of the greatest footballers in Germany and for many Der Kaiser – also because he inspired enthusiasm for German football for generations.”

German Football Federation (DFB) president Bernd Neuendorf said Beckenbauer’s death was “a real turning point” and added: “Franz Beckenbauer leaves behind a great legacy for the DFB and football as a whole.”

World Cup winners Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger paid tribute to Beckenbauer on X. He was the greatest figure that “German football has ever produced,” wrote Lahm.

The 2014 World Cup captain added that Beckenbauer was “way ahead of his time” as a player.

Schweinsteiger wrote: “Thank you for everything, Kaiser – I will never forget you! Rest in peace, Franz.”

Lahm, who is tournament director for the upcoming Euro championship in Germany, also recalled Beckenbauer’s achievements as head of the World Cup organizing committee: “The 2006 World Cup, the summer fairytale, taught a self-critical nation to like itself again,” wrote Lahm, who, like Beckenbauer, is an honorary captain of the DFB.

“This great social success would not have been possible without Franz, and I am eternally grateful to him for allowing me to be a part of it.”

Lothar Matthäus, who captained the 1990 World Cup winning team under Beckenbauer, told the Bild newspaper: “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 has left us.”

Matthäus’ 1990 World Cup teammate Jürgen Klinsmann posted on X: “Dear Franz, we are eternally grateful to you for everything you have done for us and for football.

“As a player, as team boss, as president, as a great role model with your unique charm, your lightness and joy for life. WE MISS YOU!”

National team coach Julian Nagelsmann said: “When Franz Beckenbauer entered a room, the room lit up.”

Beckenbauer played alongside Brazil legend Pele at New York Cosmos, spent two years back in West Germany at SV Hamburg before ending his glittering playing career after another short stint at Cosmos in 1983.

Major League Soccer (MLS) commissioner Don Garber shared a photo of Beckenbauer from his time with the Cosmos on X. “Franz helped show what was possible for pro soccer in the United States,” said Garber.

A year later he became national team coach, and, after losing the 1986 World Cup final to Diego Maradona’s Argentina, lifted the World Cup in 1990 with victory against the South Americans.

Beckenbauer was Bayern coach briefly twice in the 1990s, club president 1994-2009, and chief organizer of the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

However, dubious payments in connection with the tournament, which have never been fully cleared up, tainted his image in his later years just like controversial remarks on the situation of migrant workers in 2022 World Cup host nation Qatar.

He disappeared more and more from the public eye, also due to illnesses.

A slap in the face decided his and Bayern’s fate: The Munich-born Beckenbauer had initially planned to join city rivals 1860 Munich at a young age. But after being hit by 1860 player Gerhard König during a match when he was 13, he joined Bayern instead in 1959 and made his first-team debut aged 18 in 1964, Bayern’s final year to date in the second division.

Ten years later, in 1974, he helped Bayern win a fourth Bundesliga title with him in the team, a first European Cup title against Atletico Madrid, and captained West Germany to World Cup glory against the Netherlands in his Munich home stadium. They had also won the Euros two years earlier.

He was part of Bayern’s first golden generation with striker Gerd Müller, winger Uli Hoeneß, defender Paul Breitner and goalkeeper Sepp Maier.

“Franz Beckenbauer is the greatest figure FC Bayern has ever had. As a player, coach, president, man – unforgettable. Nobody will ever equal him,” said Hoeneß, who later followed Beckenbauer as club president.

Beckenbauer won 103 West Germany caps, scoring 14 goals, between 1965 and 1977, and in the Bundesliga had 424 appearances with 44 goals.

He was part of the team that lost the 1966 World Cup final against England at Wembley, and played with a broken collarbone in the “Match of the Century,” the 1970 World Cup semi-final against Italy.

Gianni Rivera, who scored Italy’s 4-3 winner, said: “He was the greatest footballer of all time.”

Gianni Infantino, president of the world governing body FIFA, named Beckenbauer “a legend of German and world football” in his Instagram story. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said that “Beckenbauer’s legacy as one of football’s all-time greats is beyond dispute.”

He was as present off the pitch as on it, starring in soup commercials in the early 1970s and other ads in his later days – plus having a column in the Bild tabloid for many years.

The once passionate golfer was married three times and had five children. One of them, Stephan, was also a professional footballer who died in 2015.

For Andreas Brehme, who scored Germany’s winning penalty in the 1990 World Cup final, Beckenbauer isn’t quite finished yet.

“I believe he will form a magic triangle in heaven with Pele and [Diego] Maradona,” Brehme told dpa.