Standing as one of football's legendary figures, as player and manager, Franz Beckenbauer was part of a golden group of world-class players – which included the great Brazilian, Pele, Netherlands star Johan Cruyff and England captain, Bobby Moor - who graced the game in the 1960s and 1970s.
It made him one of only three men, along with France's Didier Deschamps and Brazil's Mario Zagallo - who died last week - to win the World Cup as player and manager. 'Der Kaiser' captained West Germany to World Cup victory in his home country in 1974 before replicating the feat as manager when his team beat Argentina in the 1990 final in Italy.
A superb player who made the transition from outstanding midfielder to visionary defensive sweeper with ease, Beckenbauer was also captain of the Bayern Munich team that won the European Cup three seasons in succession in 1974, 1975 - when Leeds United were controversially beaten in Paris - and 1976. Beckenbauer was already marked out as a future superstar when he faced England in the World Cup final at Wembley in 1966 as a 20-year-old, a performer of such supreme quality that Sir Alf Ramsey ordered Charlton to shadow him.
Originally a striker and left-winger in his early club years, his grace, power, range of passing and leadership qualities marked him out as a natural midfielder, then later as one of the foremost sweepers in defence. Beckenbauer was named Bayern captain for the 1968-69 season, before winning his first Bundesliga that year, the European Cup Winners' Cup having already been won by beating Rangers in the 1967 final.
The World Cup triumph accompanied Bayern's domination of the European game alongside other club team-mates such as keeper Sepp Maier, Berti Vogts, Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, Paul Breitner, Uli Hoeness, and the magnificent predatory striker Gerd Muller. Winning 103 caps and scoring 14 goals, his name synonymous with the team's fortunes to this day.
Beckenbauer went on to join Pele and Moore in the States where, inevitably, he was a huge success playing alongside the iconic Brazilian for New York Cosmos, where he won the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1977, 1978 and 1980. He went on to lead his country to winning the World Cup in Italy in 1990, before coaching Marseille, in France, for a short spell.
But it was Beckenbauer's destiny to coach his beloved Bayern, winning the Bundesliga in 1993-94 and the Uefa Cup in 1996 with a two-leg victory over Bordeaux. Becoming Bayern's president and also vice-president of the German Football Association (DFB), he led their successful bid to stage the 2006 World Cup.
He was 78.
