By Oliver Trust
BERLIN, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Even for Franz Beckenbauer it remained a secret what he thought when walking alone over the pitch of the Rome Olympic Stadium on July 7, 1990, with the winner's medal for the FIFA World Cup dangling around his neck.
The German football icon had just become the third in football history to win the World Cup as a player (1974) and coach 16 years later, like Brazilian legend Mario Zagallo and the current French coach Didier Deschamps.
"Honestly, I don't know. Sadly enough, I can't remember, no matter how hard I try," the three-time Champions League winner, six-time German champion, and three-time German Cup winner said.
Now, one of football's first superstars, better known as "The Kaiser" (The Emperor), has died in his home at Kitzbuhel, Austria, at the age of 78.
Brazilian legend Pele, who died in 2022, once called Beckenbauer a close friend and stated: "Beckenbauer was one of the best I ever saw play."
The German called the Brazilian genius "the most wonderful player and human I met." Both played for one season together for Cosmos New York in 1977 after Beckenbauer had spent one year in Hamburg.
From the early years of his career in Bayern's shirt (582 games), the former German international turned into a stylish team captain, inspirational manager, and statesman-like administrator.
As a last favor for German football, he toured the globe for several months to secure the 2006 FIFA World Cup for his home country as Germany's influential ambassador.
The 1972 European Champion twice won the Ballon d'Or and Germany's top flight as a player and coach.
The death of his son Stephan in 2015, who died at the age of 46, and the accusations of suspected corruption linked to the German World Cup bid, are said to have affected his health conditions significantly. All investigations ended with an acquittal.
Current German football participants like Lothar Matthaeus, German coach Julian Nagelsmann, and German association president Bernd Neuendorf called the former sweeper Germany's greatest footballer.
His elegance when in action and his interpretation of the role of the so-called libero changed the game. Charismatic Beckenbauer was regarded as one of the ball's greatest friends.
"Franz Beckenbauer was able to float on the lawn. As a footballer, and later also as a coach, he was sublime - he seemed to stand above things. When Franz Beckenbauer entered a room, the room lit up," Matthaeus said.
As one of football's first, the Munich-born turned into a courted member of the so-called high society and one of the first footballers hired by big companies to act in commercials, who was active in several charity projects.
The world of FC Bayern is no longer what it used to be. It's suddenly darker, quieter, poorer. They added: "Without him, Bayern would never have become the club it is today."
As a fact, Beckenbauer was a bearing pillar in the generation of striker legend Gerd Muller and goalkeeper icon Sepp Maier who pushed Bayern to new heights and opened doors for a golden era for the Bavarian side.
"As a player, coach, president, person: unforgettable. Nobody will ever reach him," former Bayern president Uli Hoeness stated, adding that "People can say they saw football in Franz Beckenbauer's time. He was a friend to me, a unique companion - and a gift to all of us." ■
