Beckenbauer is an icon of German football having won 104 caps while skippering the 1974 World Cup winners in Munich before managing the side to win in Italy during Italia ’90.
He landed also a hat-trick of European Cups with the gilded Bayern Munich team of the mid-70s, where his reputation as a defender of supreme talents was honed and refined.
Nicknamed ‘Der Kaiser’, Beckenbauer was elegant and completely dominant, so much so that he came to master the modern sweeper role, or libero.
However Beckenbauer’s latter years was marred when he was questioned by Swiss prosecutors in March 2017 over suspected corruption linked to the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Born in Munich in September 1945, Beckenbauer grew up as a fan of 1860 Munich but joined the youth setup of the then unfashionable FC Bayern instead.
He reverted from centre-forward from his debut in 1964 as a left winger. He then moved back to centre mid and having helped Bayern achieve promotion to the Bundesliga.
His influenced was such that he was made captain ahead of the 1968-69 season, leading them to the top-flight title for the first time.
He won further honours, including the Ballon d’Or in 1972 and 1976, before he retired in 1984 following a spell with New York Cosmos.
Despite zero coaching qualifications he assumed the mantle of West German head coach and Beckenbauer led his country to the final of the 1986 World Cup before they climbed again to the summit of world footballat Italia 90, joining another recent sad passing in in the form of Brazil’s Mario Zagallo in achieving world success as player and gaffer.
Beckenbauer returned to Bayern, leading the club to the Bundesliga title in 1994 and the Uefa Cup two years later. Beckenbauer also had spells as president at Bayern and vice president of the German FA.
Beckenbauer’s legacy has somewhat been tarnished by the aforementioned allegations of corruption. In 2014, he was also hit with a 90-day suspension by Fifa for failing to help an inquiry into alleged corruption in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids.
