Franz Beckenbauer, former German football player and coach, died at the age of 78 this Sunday, the 7th, “peacefully in his sleep”, according to a family note released this Monday, the 8th.
Neither the family nor the German Football Federation have come forward with the causes of death, but at the end of December his brother told the newspaper “Der Spiegel” that he had undergone two heart surgeries and lost vision in one of his eyes.
Considered the greatest player in German history, the central defender who made his name at Bayern Munich and in the national team was early called “kaiser”, an expression derived from the Latin word “Caesar”, in reference to his emperor style in defense.
Beckenbauer was the captain of the 1974 World Cup-winning German team and, as coach, lifted the trophy in 1990.
At club level, he won three editions of the then Champions League ((1973-74, 1974-75 and 1975-76) with Bayern.
After Munich, he joined Pelé at Cosmos, in New York, thus promoting the king sport in the USA.
The Coach
Naturally, he embraced a career as a coach and, as a selector, reached the final of the 1986 Mumdial and won the 1990 one.
As a manager, he held positions at the German Federation and FIFA.
Beckenbauer was one of three in the world to win a World Cup as a player and as a coach.
The others are Brazilian Mário Zagallo, who died on the 6th, with four titles, and Frenchman Didier Deschamps.
In a first reaction, the German Bundesliga released a note lamenting his death.
“The Bundesliga family is devastated by the death of Franz Beckenbauer. A true icon of the past, present and always”, reads the statement.