Franz Beckenbauer (centre) team captain of the winning German national soccer team at the 1974 world soccer championship presents the trophy in Munich's, Olympic stadium in Germany, July 7, 1974. Right is the team's goalkeeper Sepp Maier, others are not identified. Germany's World Cup-winning coach Franz Beckenbauer has died. He was 78. - AP
BERLIN (dpa): World football and sports in general has paid tribute to German icon Franz Beckenbauer who died on Sunday at age 78.
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach named Beckenbauer "a sporting legend far beyond football" in a statement on platform X, formerly Twitter.
"He has made a greater contribution to sport in Germany than almost anyone else," said Bach, naming Beckenbauer "a close and loyal friend for more than four decades, someone you could always rely on."
Former German basketball great Dirk Nowitzki said on X: "Franz Beckenbauer, one of the greatest German personalities in sport, has sadly left us. He has shaped the last few decades like no other, both on and off the pitch."
Vitali Klitschko, a former heavyweight boxing world champion who is now mayor of Kiev, said on Telegram: "My brother [Wladimir] and I knew Franz and were friends for many years. A great professional and a man with a big heart. Sincere, kind, empathetic."
Klitschko also highlighted that Beckenbauer always supported Ukraine in its democratic European endeavours.
Brazilian club Santos named Beckenbauer "an eternal German legend" and posted a photo of Beckenbauer together with their icon Pele who died 13 months ago. Pele and Beckenbauer played together at New York Cosmos in the late 1970s.
Former England midfielder David Beckham said on Instagram that Beckenbauer was "a special person, special player and a true gentleman."
Other Footballers including Lionel Messi and Gary Lineker had also paid tribute along with Italian members of the legendary 1970 World Cup semi-final against Beckenbauer's West Germany.
Roberto Boninsegna, who had scored Italy's early opener in the game game Beckenbauer completed with a severe shoulder injury, named Beckenbauer "a playmaker and leader of this great team."
Germany famously lost that game 4-3 but it only added to the greatness of Beckenbauer who then won the 1974 World Cup as a player and the 1990 tournament, in Italy, as a coach, plus many club titles with Bayern Munich, New York Cosmos and SV Hamburg.
Italian paper Gazzetta dello Sport named Beckenbauer "a football myth," and Britain's The Guardian saw him as "the complete footballer."
In Spain, sports paper Marca said: "There has never been another like him, neither before nor since. The figure of the eternal emperor is unrivalled," it said, referring to Beckenbauer's nickname Der Kaiser (the emporer)
Mundo Deportivo named Beckenbauer "a transnational idol of several generations and a footballer that everyone wanted to emulate."
French paper Le Parisien said: "Franz Beckenbauer will forever belong in the category of immortal personalities of sport."
Many recalled that Beckenbauer redefined the role of a sweeper during his era into a play-making role behind the defence, with Britain's Daily Tegraph naming him "a groundbreaking centre-half and football’s finest thinker.
"With the great West Germany captain's death, the game has lost the last of a generation of players who became global TV superstars," the paper added.
