One of the greatest, a class act and superb gentleman - a tribute to Germany's Beckenbauer, the man who changed the face of football

German football player Franz Beckenbauer waves to the spectators after winning the World Cup 1974 final football match against Sweden, in Dusseldorf, on June 30, 1974. German football legend Franz Beckenbauer, world champion as a player in 1974 and as coach in 1990, died on Sunday at the age of 78, the German Federation (DFB) announced on January 8, 2024 to the SID press agency, subsidiary of the AFP.

ONCE there was a time, football was all about goals and strikers and forwards. Defenders, they were brute animals who were there to destroy the game and stop the free flowing game that produce goals, the very reason people loved the game.

Then came Franz Beckenbauer, he made being a defender stylish (some said it was art) and it made him a mega superstar who was spoken in the same breath of Pele, Diego Maradona, George Best, Bobby Charlton and so on.