Soccer Icon Franz Beckenbauer Passes Away at 78

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Facts

• The family of Franz Beckenbauer has revealed to the media company Deutsche Presse-Agentur that the former German footballer and manager passed away on Sunday at the age of 78.¹
• Born on Sept. 11, 1945, Beckenbauer played for Bayern Munich (1964-77), Hamburger SV (1980-82), and the New York Cosmos (1977-80 and 1983-84). The defender also represented the West German national team in 103 matches.²
• Beckenbauer won four Bundesliga titles and three consecutive European Cups with Bayern Munich, while also winning the league title once more with Hamburg.³
• Beckenbauer is the only person in soccer history to have both captained (1974) and managed (1990) victorious World Cup teams, managing West Germany from 1984-1990, Olympique de Marseille from 1990-91, and Bayern Munich from 1993-94 and in 1996.²
• The two-time Ballon d'Or (an annual soccer award) winner managed his national team between 1984 to 1990.⁴
• In 2016, FIFA's Ethics Committee opened a corruption investigation into a €6.7M ($7.45M) payment in relation to Germany's award of the 2006 World Cup — an incident alleged to have involved Beckenbauer while he sat as vice-president of the German Football Association between 1998-2010.¹

Sources: ¹Dw.Com, ²Footballhistory, ³BBC News (a) and ⁴BBC News (b).

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Guardian. A titan of soccer history, Beckenbauer completed the sport both on the pitch and on the touchline. The complete soccer player, much of his time on the pitch looked effortless while his statesman-like aura earned him the nickname 'Der Kaiser' — The Emperor. Although Germany's corruption allegations concerning the 2006 World Cup cannot be forgotten, it will take more than accusations without verdict to blemish the legacy of one of the greatest of all time.
• Narrative B, as provided by Daily Mail. Despite potentially being Germany's greatest-ever player, the later years of Beckenbauer's life were rife with scandal and sadness. Following the passing of his son and allegations of corruption, the former soccer legend's health noticeably deteriorated. Despite being a serial winner for so many years, Beckenbauer's final years away from the spotlight were tragic and painted the picture of a complex and sometimes challenging human interest story.