“He was one of the greats of our sport”

On Monday, Franz Beckenbauer’s family announced the death of the German football legend.

• Rudi Völler (DFB director of the German national team): “I am incredibly sad, the news of his death affects me very much. I consider it one of the great privileges of my life to have known and experienced Franz Beckenbauer. Our time together with the national team was crowned with the 1990 World Cup title in Rome , a title that would never have been possible without his outstanding coaching performance. The ‘Kaiser* was an inspiration for more than one generation, he will forever remain the shining light of German football. With Franz Beckenbauer, German football is losing its greatest personality, me Lose a good friend.”
• Olaf Scholz (German Chancellor): “World champion as a player and coach: Franz Beckenbauer was one of the greatest footballers in Germany and for many ‘the emperor’ – also because he inspired enthusiasm for German football for generations.”
• Bernd Neuendorf (German Football Association President): “Franz Beckenbauer’s death is a real turning point. We look at his life’s work with respect and great gratitude. With him we are losing a unique footballer and a lovable person. The Kaiser was one of the best players our sport has ever seen. With his He set standards on the pitch with his lightness, elegance and overview. His meticulousness and charisma as team boss as well as his energy and drive as head of the World Cup OK are unforgettable. Franz Beckenbauer leaves a great legacy for the DFB and football as a whole.”
• Julian Nagelsmann (German national coach): “For me, Franz Beckenbauer was the best footballer in German history. His interpretation of the role of libero changed the game; this role and his friendship with the ball made him a free man. Franz Beckenbauer could float across the pitch as a footballer and later also as a coach he was sublime, he stood above things. When Franz Beckenbauer entered a room, the room lit up, he rightly bore the title ‘lighting figure of German football’. An aura surrounded him until the end, which was also the case “The health problems and strokes of fate that he had to cope with could not be shaken. I am grateful and proud that I was able to get to know him and will remember him fondly.”
• Lothar Matthäus (German record national player), via “Bild”: “The shock is deep, even though I knew that Franz wasn’t feeling well. His death is a loss for football and for Germany as a whole. He was one of the greatest as a player and coach, but also off the pitch. Franz was an outstanding person Personality not only in football, and he enjoyed worldwide recognition.”
• Thomas Müller (striker Bayern Munich): “One of the greatest footballers in the history of FC Bayern has unfortunately left us. Rest in peace, Kaiser Franz. We will never forget what you have done for football in Germany.”
• Gary Lineker (former English team player), via X: “I am very sorry to hear that Franz Beckenbauer has died. He was one of the greats of our sport. The Kaiser was the most beautiful of all footballers, who won everything with grace and charm. Rest in peace.”
• SK Rapid Vienna: “Our sincere condolences on the passing of Franz #Beckenbauer! The ‘Kaiser’ got his nickname in Vienna and gave us the honor of a sporting duel with @FCBayern twice in the European Cup in 1967. May he rest in peace!”

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