The “Kaiser” has died. The German Football Association (DFB) announced on Monday the death of Franz Beckenbauer, the German football legend. World champion as a player in 1974, then as coach in 1990, the former defender died on Sunday at the age of 78, the DFB told the SID press agency, an AFP subsidiary.
Former captain of the West German selection in the 1970s, coach of the Mannschaft from 1984 to 1990 and former manager of Bayern Munich in the 1990s, Franz Beckenbauer had withdrawn from public life in recent years due to problems of health. He won three Champions Leagues, in 1974, 1975, 1976, the year he received his second Ballon d’Or, after 1972.
OM coach in 1990
The “Kaiser” had also trained for several months in France, at the Olympique de Marseille. In 1990, Franz Beckenbauer became the first German to coach a big French team, which was then chaired by Bernard Tapie.
Franz Beckenbauer was part of the very closed circle of men who had been world champions as players and then coaches. The Brazilian Mario Zagallo (1958 and 1970), who died on Friday, and Didier Deschamps (1998 and 2018) also achieved this feat.