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Franz Beckenbauer, who won World Cups as a player and coach and became a defining figure in German soccer for more than half a century, died on Sunday. He was 78 years old.
He died at home, his family confirmed in a statement. The statement did not specify where he lived or the cause of his death. His relatives had previously suggested to German media that his health was deteriorating.
Beckenbauer, known as “The Kaiser” throughout his trophy-laden career, has been in decline in recent years after one of his five children, Stefan, died of a brain tumor in 2015 and underwent heart bypass surgery. He stayed away from public life. It went into operation the following year.
Until then, he had been a totemic and glamorous presence in both German football and German public life. He was a player and a defender with extraordinary poise and grace. As a coach, he had a deft touch and easygoing attitude towards his players. And he had shown himself to be a manager, a skilled diplomat, and an excellent networker.
But above all, the winner was Beckenbauer. He won mercilessly at Bayern Munich. He joined the club as a teenager and was so involved with the club that long-time president Uli Hoeneß called him “the greatest man in history”.
During his 14 years with the club, Beckenbauer won four German Championships, four German Cups, three European Cups and one Intercontinental Cup, the predecessor to the Club World Cup. He was twice selected for the Ballon d’Or, France Football magazine’s prestigious award for Europe’s best player of the year, making him the only defender to win the award more than once. He would go on to win three more titles in one fall during his career with the New York Cosmos.
What’s even more remarkable is that he also won with the national team. Beckenbauer led West Germany to the 1966 World Cup final, where they lost in extra time to hosts England, but in his own words was “too young to have an impact”. That’s what he felt. Four years later, he was part of the West Germany squad that lost to Italy in a thrilling semi-final, dubbed the “game of the century.”
In 1974, two years after winning the European Championship, he finally conquered the world summit of the game, leading West Germany to a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in Munich. As captain, Beckenbauer became the first player to lift the current World Cup trophy.
Sixteen years later, he would encounter it again. Beckenbauer somewhat reluctantly agreed to coach the West Germany national team in 1984, but only because he felt what he later described as a “moral obligation” to take the job.
Two years later, he reached the World Cup final, losing 3-2 to Diego Maradona and Argentina. In 1990, he got his revenge by defeating the same opponents in Rome by one goal in the final. In doing so, Beckenbauer secured his place among an exclusive group of only three men to win a World Cup as a player-manager.
Even after his direct involvement with football on the field ended, he continued to win. Beckenbauer was at the forefront of reunified Germany’s attempts to host the 2006 World Cup. Due to the successful bid and the ultimate success of the tournament, he named the World Cup his most personally meaningful tournament.
It also tarnished his legacy. Throughout his career, his personal life and executive actions led to reputational damage and multiple legal violations. Both his tax and love life came under intense scrutiny, with the former resulting in his seven-figure fine.
“He did everything a German shouldn’t do,” former teammate Paul Breitner once said. “He got divorced, left his kids, went off with his girlfriend, got in trouble with the tax collector, broke up with his girlfriend again. But he has a good heart, is a positive person and is always willing to help.” Everything is forgiven because he is ready to accept. He does not hide his weaknesses and does not sweep his mistakes under the carpet.”
However, the corruption allegations surrounding the 2006 World Cup bidding process were not easily forgiven. Ten years after his role as the tournament’s representative, Beckenbauer avoided a conviction in Switzerland, the home of soccer’s governing body FIFA, but only then, due to Swiss regulations related to the length of time, a verdict was decided. The trial was abandoned just before the deadline. The amount of time that has elapsed since the crime was allegedly committed.
He always denied the accusations. “We did not want to bribe anyone and we did not bribe anyone,” he wrote in a column for the German newspaper Bild in 2016.
The trial comes years after Beckenbauer took part in the dirty FIFA vote that awarded the 2018 and 2022 tournaments to Russia and Qatar. Mr. Beckenbauer was among the officials accused of wrongdoing.
Franz Anton Beckenbauer was born in September 1945 in Giesing, a working-class suburb of Munich, near the future site of the city’s Olympic Stadium, to Franz and Anthony Beckenbauer. His father was a postal worker. From an early age, Franz was recognized as a rare talent by both the city’s professional teams, 1860 Munich and Bayern Munich.
His decision to play for Bayern was a defining moment for the team’s fate. Without Beckenbauer, Bayern “would not be the club it is today,” said a statement from the eternal German champion.
Originally a midfielder, Beckenbauer spent most of his career as a “libero”, effectively a deep sweeper who was given license to move forward and initiate attacks whenever the opportunity presented itself.
“For me, he was the best player in Germany’s history,” said current team manager Julian Nagelsmann. “His interpretation of the libero role changed the game. This role and his friendship with the ball made him a free man. Franz Beckenbauer could float on the grass. As a footballer , and later as a coach, he was sublime. He was on top of things.”
Beckenbauer made over 500 appearances for Bayern and a further 103 for West Germany before announcing his decision to leave his country and join the Cosmos in 1977. This decision cost him his participation in the 1978 World Cup, in which Germany played. The football federation has decided not to select players who work outside Europe.
He didn’t regret it. He later said his days with the Cosmos (counting Pele as a teammate) were the best of his life.
He said he couldn’t go out to eat in Munich without “a newspaper reporting my main course.” In contrast, New York’s internationalism offered a degree of freedom. “In Munich we were all German players,” he said. “There were 14 nationalities and pele in the Cosmos.”
However, anonymity is only relative. One night, Beckenbauer was having dinner on Second Avenue with Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records and the man behind Cosmos. Mr. Beckenbauer found Mr. Woody Allen and asked him to introduce him to Mr. Ertegun, who had the perfect connections.
As Gavin Newsham recounts the history of his Cosmos in his 2006 book Once in a Lifetime, the impresario is uncharacteristically coy, as he has every right to be. Beckenbauer followed him to the other side of the restaurant. But when they arrived at the director’s table, Mr. Allen quickly stood up with a look of disbelief on his face before Mr. Ertegun could speak. “Oh my god, Franz Beckenbauer,” he said.
Beckenbauer is survived by his wife Heidorn, known as Heidi, their two children Joel and Francesca, and his two children Thomas and Michael from a previous marriage.
melissa eddy and Tariq Panja Contributed to the report.
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