Won World Cup as player and coach
BERLIN • Franz Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup both as player and coach and became one of Germany’s most beloved personalities with his easygoing charm, has died. He was 78.
“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,” the family said in a statement. “We ask that we be allowed to grieve in peace and be spared any questions.”
The statement did not provide a cause of death. The former Bayern Munich great, who became affectionately known as the “Kaiser” — or “Emperor” — had struggled with health problems in recent years.
Beckenbauer also had to contend with allegations of impropriety in later years. But they did nothing to damage the esteem in which he was held.
“The world of FC Bayern is no longer the way it used to be — suddenly darker, quieter, poorer,” the Bavarian powerhouse said on its website.
As a player, he reimagined the defender’s role in soccer and captained West Germany to the World Cup title in 1974. He was the coach when West Germany won the tournament again in 1990, a symbolic moment for a country in the midst of reunification, months after the Berlin Wall fell.
“The ‘Kaiser’ was one of the best players our sport has ever seen,” German soccer federation president Bernd Neuendorf said. “With his lightness, his elegance and his vision, he set standards on the field.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote that Beckenbauer “inspired generations of enthusiasm for German soccer. We will miss him.”
Beckenbauer was also instrumental in bringing the 2006 World Cup to Germany, though his legacy was later tainted by charges that he only succeeded with the help of bribery. He denied the allegations.
He was not indicted for health reasons and the case ended without a judgment.
“He did everything that a German is not supposed to do,” former Bayern Munich teammate Paul Breitner once said.
“He got divorced, he left his children, took off with his girlfriend, got into trouble with tax collectors, left his girlfriend again.
“But he is forgiven for everything because he’s got a good heart, he’s a positive person and he’s always ready to help. He doesn’t conceal his weaknesses, doesn’t sweep his mistakes under the carpet,” Breitner said.