German football legend Franz Beckenbauer has died at the age of 78.

German football icon and legend Franz Beckenbauer has died at the age of 78. The defender nicknamed “The Emperor” was one of the best players of all time, winning the Ballon d’Or twice and also winning gold at the World Cup. His death was announced by his family.

Franz Beckenbauer was one of the best players in the history of football and one of only three men – along with Brazilian Mario Zagalla and Frenchman Didier Deschamps – to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager.

He was talked about as a defender who was far ahead of his time with his elegant style of play. Simply put, Beckenbauer was one of the main figures of the strong German generation in the 1960s and 1970s.

In terms of national team level, Beckenbauer was instrumental in helping the then Germany to gold at the 1974 World Cup in Germany. Eight years earlier, he had reached the World Cup final with the national team. His next championship came not at the World Championships but at the Euro in 1972.

Four years later, the Germans almost managed to defend their European title, but Czechoslovakia was more successful in the final. As coach of the national team, he led the Germans to gold at the 1990 World Cup in Italy, where, incidentally, it was the Germans who put a stop to the Czechoslovaks in the quarter-finals.

“It is with deep sorrow that we announce that my husband and our father Franz Beckenbauer passed away peacefully in his sleep yesterday, surrounded by his family. We ask that you be able to grieve in silence and refrain from asking any questions,” the family said in a statement, also quoted by The Independent.

Beckenbauer at club level

At club level, Beckenbauer was the driving force behind Bayern Munich during the aforementioned period. With the Bavarian side, he won four Bundesliga titles, three times the PMEZ (the equivalent of the Champions League at the time) and four times the German domestic cup.

He was also German Footballer of the Year four times. He won one more title with Hamburg in the top flight, and at the end of his playing career he was still engaged in the USA. There, by the way, he won three more championships with the New York Cosmos.

Source: Sky Sports, The Independent, X – Fabrizio Romano