He died at the age of 78.
Franz Beckenbauer, an iconic German footballer and coach with a knack for leading his teams to greatness, died at the age of 78. He was one of only three people to win the World Cup as a player and as a coach.
Here are five points on the footballer:
- Mr Beckenbauer was born in Munich in 1945, four months after the end of the Second World War. He helped establish Bayern as Germany's strongest club. Further, he played a vital role in helping his country become a football powerhouse.
- In the mid-1970s, he won three European Cups with Bayern Munich and established himself as one of the best defenders in the world, earning him the nickname "Der Kaiser", according to The Guardian.
- With 104 caps for West Germany, where he led them to victory in the 1974 World Cup and then repeated the feat as manager in Italy sixteen years later, Mr Beckenbauer is regarded as a legend in German football.
- However, he was implicated in possible corruption in securing the hosting rights for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In 2021, FIFA's Ethics committee stated that it could not prosecute him due to time running out on the case, as per Reuters.
- Mr Beckenbauer had five children from three different relationships, one of which was a marriage. He was thrown out from the West German youth team when he was 18 because his unwed girlfriend became pregnant and he refused to marry her.
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