Franz Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup as a coach and player and became an icon in Germany due to his easygoing charm, passed away on Monday, news agency dpa reported Monday. He was 78.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce that my husband and our father, Franz Beckenbauer, passed away peacefully in his sleep yesterday, Sunday, surrounded by his family,” the family said in a statement to dpa, the German news agency. “We ask that we be allowed to grieve in peace and be spared any questions.”
The reason for death was not mentioned in the statement. The former Bayern Munich legend has been dealing with health issues in recent years.
Beckenbauer was one of German football’s key figures. As a player, he revolutionised the position of the defender in football and led West Germany, which had lost to England in the 1966 World Cup final, to the World Cup title in 1974. He was the coach when West Germany won the tournament again in 1990, a historic event for a country in the midst of reunification, months after the Berlin Wall fell.
Beckenbauer was also important in bringing the hugely successful 2006 World Cup to Germany, however, his legacy was later harmed by allegations that he got hosting rights with the help of bribery. He denied the allegations.