He was one of the greatest footballers in the world. Franz Beckenbauer became world champion as a player and coach and brought the 2006 World Cup to Germany. He was the much-praised “figure of light”.
“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. “We ask that you grieve in silence and not ask questions.”
A slap in the face that changed the football world
As an elegant libero, Beckenbauer won four championship titles with Bayern Munich and the Master Cup, the predecessor of the Champions League, three times. Everything could have turned out differently if a certain Gerhard König had not given him a “Watschn”. He played for 1860 Munich, the city’s number 1, where Beckenbauer also wanted to play as a teenager.
But because he received a punch in the face from the same Gerhard König in a match against the “Lions”, he did not move from SC Munich in 1906, but to Bayern, which at the time did not yet have the reputation of a world club.
The highlight of his career came in 1974 with the world title. Two years earlier he led the winning team of the German European Championship. After a few years in the US at Cosmos New York, where he played with Pelé in a legendary team, Beckenbauer returned to Germany and won another championship title with Hamburger SV in 1982.
In 1984, Beckenbauer became team boss of the German national team, even without a trainer’s license, and led the team directly to the 1986 World Cup final against Argentina (2:3). Four years later they took revenge on Diego Maradona and Co with the World Cup victory. Beckenbauer returned to FC Bayern as coach when his Munich team was in crisis in the mid-1990s.
A summer fairy tale with a shadow
The DFB used his charisma and multilingual brilliance in its bid for the 2006 World Cup. The summer fairy tale was Beckenbauer’s highlight as an official – and at the same time difficult for him personally. There were accusations when questionable payments became public.
The accusations surrounding the awarding of the Football World Cup with dubious millions in payments leave a late aftertaste on Beckenbauer’s impressive life’s work. His reputation fell among sections of the population and supporters. That must have been a difficult realization for Beckenbauer, who had been on the sunny side of things all his life.
It was the second mudflat that marked a turning point in his life. In recent years, Franz Beckenbauer had become increasingly quiet; health problems had plagued him time and time again. (ram/kat/sda/dpa)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
