Tributes have been paid to Franz Beckenbauer, widely regarded as one of the finest footballers of all time, and one of only three men to have won the World Cup as a player and manager, after his death at the age of 78.
Beckenbauer is an icon of German football having won 104 caps for West Germany, captaining them to glory at the 1974 World Cup before repeating the feat, as manager, in Italy 16 years later. He also won numerous other honours, including a hat-trick of European Cups with Bayern Munich in the mid-70s, when he also established his reputation as a defender of supreme talents, so much that he became widely known as Der Kaiser.
His family confirmed the news in a statement: "It is with deep sadness that we announce that my husband and our father, Franz Beckenbauer, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Sunday, surrounded by his family," it said. "We ask that we can be able to mourn in silence and not be disturbed by any questions."
This story is from the January 09, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the January 09, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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