The 78-year-old German icon, who was considered by many to be among the best football players of all time, passed yesterday. Franz Beckenbauer: Legend of German football passes away at age 78 Mario Zagallo came first, and then Franz Beckenbauer. The most illustrious football team has been reduced to just one surviving member in a matter of days. The only member of the elite group to win the World Cup as a player and manager is Didier Deschamps. Like Deschamps, Beckenbauer was able to make an impression even in greats since he was the captain of a World Cup-winning squad. Along with Sergio Ramos, Beckenbauer is the only captain to have won three European Cups.

As a player and manager, he made it to four World Cup finals and experienced both wins and losses. Italy's 4-3 victory against West Germany in the 1970 World Cup semi-final was perhaps the competition's best since it prevented him from reaching the fifth final. He even won a Bundesliga title when he moved to Hamburg in his mid-thirties, which helped them win the European Cup. Despite his limited experience in club management, he managed to win two league titles and a Uefa Cup.

Beckenbauer was a fixture on the largest stages, a symbol of achievement, and a royal figure who always seemed to be at the top, no matter where he focused his attention. Der Kaiser, his moniker, denoted an imperial authority, much as Beckenbauer, the football player, did when he began to manage games from midfield, then shifted to sweeper, and then assumed control from the technical area.

 The German football scene was shaped by Beckenbauer, a man whose achievements far outweighed his flaws despite the taint of sleaze, Fifa politicking, the awarding of the 2006, 2018, and 2022 World Cups, and a 90-day suspension for refusing to cooperate with a corruption investigation. His influence and legacy remain today.

Beckenbauer is largely responsible for Bayern Munich's rise to prominence in Germany. Before his debut, the team had only won the national championship once, and no Bundesliga team had ever won the European Cup before their three victories in the 1970s. Before Beckenbauer, West Germany had just one unlikely World Cup victory, coming from behind in 1954. On the other hand, his team of the 1970s was a true superpower, winning the European Championship in 1972 and finishing second in 1976.

Although Helmut Schon's team was able to play their brand of total football with a sweeper who came out from the back, Beckenbauer's team painted the Germans as the villains who always won out. Perhaps Johan Cruyff's Netherlands, their final victims in 1974, were more well-liked and influential in modern thinking. Given his position, Beckenbauer may be considered an anachronism in the modern era of intense pressing and defensive lines, where few teams have a spare player behind everyone else. Since no other defender has won the Ballon d'Or more than once, it did make him unique.

In addition, Beckenbauer's placement can confuse those unfamiliar with his work. When he was in the US, an official from the New York Cosmos told him to "get his ass up front." "We don't pay a million dollars to have a guy hang out in defense."

Although it seemed like a waste, Beckenbauer's goal-scoring ability allowed him to score seven goals for his country in 1966 alone. He did not score in the team's most famous final, the first of two World Cup games in which he and Bobby Charlton were assigned to man-mark each other. However, in their 1970 rematch, the Germans struck again, transforming the match with both skill and personality.

Similar to Charlton, Beckenbauer's passing marks the end of an era. Only Sepp Maier is left of the three legendary Germans who achieved everything for club and nation and were the best in their respective fields. Before Beckenbauer, the deadliest finisher in football history, Gerd Muller, proved to be an efficient German player.

The World Cup victory by West Germany will be commemorated for the 50th time in 2024 at Euro; five decades later, Beckenbauer is still deserving of a spot in the all-time eleven. Undoubtedly, Beckenbauer's legacy lives on in a successor who was born not only after his playing career but also after he led West Germany to the 1986 World Cup final. This successor is too young to recall the 1990 World Cup victory, a tournament in which they were the most reliable, strong, and dominant team. Julian Nagelsmann declared, "Franz Beckenbauer was the greatest football player in German history, in my opinion."

He became a free man thanks to his relationship with the ball and his interpretation of the libero role, which altered the course of the game. Franz Beckenbauer could hover on the grass. He was exceptional both as a football player and subsequently as a coach, standing above the rest. A room glowed when Franz Beckenbauer walked in. Until the very end, he was enveloped by an aura. Beckenbauer's time is now over. However, Franz Beckenbauer changed the course of German football history and made a significant contribution, as Karl-Heinz Rummenigge once stated. The greatest football player in German history is no longer with us.