"Der Kaiser" is dead

[Skybird]

Like or do not like football, like the man or do not like him, but he was a titan in his sports. Franz Beckenbauer died, age 78. Greatest german footballer ever, one of the very greatest internationally. World champion both as player and coach.

[Jimbuna]

A true legend of the game.

R I P Sir

[mapuc]

Ruhe in Frieden
Und
Danke für die show

[Skybird]

Two details from his biography:
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[Focus] World champion coach? Officially, Beckenbauer bore the title "team manager", as he had never acquired a coaching license. When he took over the national team under Jupp Derwall after the failed European Championship in 1984, he had only ended his active career with the New York Cosmos a year earlier and had no experience on the sidelines. But he had experienced everything as a player, the "Kaiser" defended himself, and a license was not even necessary. In Horst Köppel, an ambitious young coach with that license was placed at his side as an assistant. But: "When he explains that the ball is square, everyone believes him," Otto Rehhagel [another famous German football coach, Skybird] once said reverently about Beckenbauer.
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[fcbinside] His performance in the 1970 World Cup is still regarded today as a symbol of his tireless commitment and leadership qualities. The young Franz Beckenbauer, barely 25 years old at the time, continued to play in the 1970 World Cup semi-final against Italy despite a dislocated shoulder. In the legendary Azteca Stadium in Mexico, he held out for the entire dramatic match. [He played with his right arm taped to his body, as the substitution quota had already been exhausted and no more substitutions could be made, Skybird. Do you know how hurtful it is to have a dislocated link and then excessively moving all your body around? I do.]
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His record:

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[fcbinside] The rise of FC Bayern in the 1960s and 1970s was closely linked to Beckenbauer's career. He led Germany's current record champions from the regional league to promotion to the Bundesliga in 1965. Under his leadership, FC Bayern became German champions for the first time since the Bundesliga was introduced in 1969 - a milestone that paved the way for the club's subsequent dominance.
From then on, he captained the team to numerous national and international successes, including three consecutive European Cup victories (1974-1976), three more German championships and four DFB Cup wins. His elegance, his intelligence and his tactical understanding were revolutionary. Beckenbauer practically reinvented the role of the modern libero and set new standards in the soccer world.

After his time at FC Bayern, he played for Cosmos New York in America and for Hamburger Sportverein in the Bundesliga.
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Of course, player world championship 1974, and again as coach in 1990.
One of the mos elegant players of all time. He made it look so easy, made his opponents look like blokes at times. Too sad that i did not experience his palying career myself, I was too young, I know it all just from videos.

In 1974 we were in holiday in sort of an alm hotel in Bavaria. I was seven years old, the adults watched the football shows and I did not understand what all the fuzz was about, football never interested me that much, even later. But even today my parents must laugh when telling me that during that famous match against the Netherlands one local farmer one or two hills away shot himself in anger because his TV broke down during the first half. It were different times, you know...