Franz Beckenbauer, German legend and one of the greatest footballers in history, has died

Franz Beckenbauer, one of the greatest footballers in history, died this Monday at the age of 78. The news was released by the German Federation.

If the Olympus of this sport includes those who have amazed from midfield forward (Pelé, Di Stéfano, Cruyff, Maradona, Messi), in terms of defenders there has been – until now – no one comparable to Franz Beckenbauer. There is no statistic, compilation or historical summary in football that does not include the “Kaiser” in his ideal team. It was a stronghold of the German team that established itself as a power in the 60s and 70s: second in England ’66 (after the controversial 2-4 against the locals in the final), it reached the bronze medal in Mexico ’70, after being eliminated by Italy in one of the greatest matches of all time. But the ’74 World Cup, right on home soil, crowned that German team which had Beckenbauer as its star and was based on historic names: Sepp Maier in goal, Vogts, Breitner, the enormous scoring power of Müller. And they come back in the final 2-1 against Cruyff’s Holland, undisputed favorites and masters of “total football”, a revolutionary team that also proved to be among the greatest ever.

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