BERLIN: Legend Franz Beckenbauer, who left a unique imprint on German football as player, captain and coach, has died at the age of 78, the German football association said Monday.
“Franz Beckenbauer was definitely the biggest German footballer of all time, and above all one of the greatest men who I have known,” said DFB vice president Hans-Joachim Watzke.
Beckenbauer, one of only three men to win the World Cup as player and as a coach, passed away on Sunday, the DFB said.
Tributes poured in for the football icon, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and former German captain Lothar Matthaeus alike saying “we will miss him.”
UEFA hailed Beckenbauer as “one of European football’s greatest sons” who “shaped German football like no other,” while the English Premier League described him as the “most beautiful of footballers who won it all with grace and charm.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Instagram called Beckenbauer “a true legend,” saying “we’ll never forget you dear Franz, thanks for everything.”
On his 75th birthday, Beckenbauer told German tabloid Bild he prayed regularly.
“They are prayers of thanks,” the frequent Bild columnist said “thanks for the beautiful life I have been able to lead.”
Former captain of the German team in the 1970s, Beckenbauer had health problems in his later years and lived mostly withdrawn from the public eye in Salzburg in Austria, just across the border with Germany.
Known in football-mad Germany as “the Kaiser” meaning “the Emperor,” Beckenbauer played a central role in some of the country’s greatest sporting achievements, but his legacy was later tarnished by his involvement in scandals surrounding Germany’s successful bid to host the 2006 World Cup.
Born in Munich in 1945, Beckenbauer helped establish Bayern as his country’s strongest club.
Alongside Brazilian Mario Zagallo — who died aged 92 on Friday — and France’s Didier Deschamps, Beckenbauer is one of only three men to have won the World Cup as both a player and a manager.
He captained West Germany to the 1974 World Cup title on home soil when they beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the Munich final, then managed the team that beat Argentina 1-0 in Rome to lift the trophy at Italia 90.
Beckenbauer, a commanding figure on and off the pitch, was named European footballer of the year in both 1972 and 1976.
He made 424 appearances in the Bundesliga, scoring 44 goals, including in a 13-year spell for Bayern, before joining Hamburg and New York Cosmos, where he finished his playing career in 1983.
Beckenbauer had stints as manager in club football at both Bayern and Marseille, winning the French league title in 1991 and the Bundesliga in 1994.
In 1996, he stopped coaching and his role as president of Bayern led to a place on the Executive Committee with football’s governing body FIFA.
Off the field, Beckenbauer led Germany’s successful bid to host the 2006 World Cup, a successful tournament that is still nostalgically referred to in Germany as “das Sommermaerchen” — “The summer fairytale.”
However, the story turned sour in October 2015 when Spiegel broke a cash-for-votes scandal story.
The magazine alleged that, in 2000, the German Football Association (DFB) had bought the votes of four Asian members of FIFA’s 24-strong executive committee to secure the hosting of the 2006 World Cup finals. Beckenbauer had maintained his innocence.
Beckenbauer had heart surgery in 2016 and again in 2017, when worrying news about his ill health began to emerge.
At the beginning of January 2023, the football icon was absent from Pele’s funeral. A few months later, in August, he missed the traditional annual gathering of Germany’s 1990 world champions.
On each occasion, his health was cited as a reason.
The last time he appeared at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena was in August 2022, when he attended a match against Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Wolfgang Overath, who lifted the World Cup with Beckenbauer in 1974, said it was “unimaginable that (Beckenbauer) is no longer around.
“He towered over everyone... and yet he was so down to earth,” said Overath, recalling that Beckenbauer had phoned him just three months ago for his birthday “with all the strength he still had then.”
German football legend Franz Beckenbauer has died aged 78
https://arab.news/8mfy4
German football legend Franz Beckenbauer has died aged 78
- Tributes poured in for the football icon
- Beckenbauer one of only three men to win World Cup as player and as coach
Humbert stuns Tsitsipas as defending champion exits Dubai in first round
- Last year’s winner lost in straight sets to the 2024 champion
- Ugo Humbert will now play the 2022 champion, Andrey Rublev, on Wednesday
DUBAI: Defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas crashed out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday night, falling in the first round to 2024 title-winner Ugo Humbert under the bright lights of the center court.
The 4-6, 5-7 defeat at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium means the 27-year-old Greek, who left the court with his head bowed, will drop outside the world top 40 for the first time in almost eight years.
The first-round meeting between the two unseeded Dubai champions caught the eye as soon as the main draw took place on Saturday for this week’s ATP 500 tournament. Only seven world ranking places separated the pair and the lower-ranked Humbert, at No. 37, edged the pre-match head-to-head record at 3-1. Tsitsipas has not yet progressed beyond the quarterfinals across five events since the start of the year.
“It was a funny first round — the two last winners of the tournament,” said Humbert, who beat Alexander Bublik in the final here two years ago. “It’s so good to be back where I won the tournament. I have such good memories, and it was a tough battle tonight.”
From the first exchanges, both players dominated their service games with remarkable ease. Tsitsipas only conceded two points in his first four, while Humbert was forced to deuce in just one game. Yet as the scoreline progressed in undramatic fashion to 5-4 to Humbert, and with Tsitsipas’ majestic topspin backhand starting to purr, the Greek’s serve deserted him when he needed it most.
Fewer than 24 hours after he had enjoyed a Ramadan cultural experience that saw him don a dark blue kandura to eat the fast-breaking iftar meal, Tsitsipas demonstrated the season’s spirit of generosity by gifting Humbert a pair of double-faults, an unforced error and, ultimately, the opening set.
The second set followed a similar pattern, with Tsitsipas unable to change the course of the match. Humbert conceded two break points in the first game yet found the resolve to dig deep and hold on. The set stayed on serve for 11 consecutive games until, with Humbert 6-5 up and Tsitsipas serving to stay in the tournament, another two wasteful forehands by the three-time finalist handed Humbert two match points.
The Frenchman took the victory at the first opportunity as Tsitsipas’ third unforced forehand error in sequential points sealed his fate.
“I think today, it was a big battle,” said Humbert. “We both served very well, and I had just a few opportunities and I did it, so I’m super happy. It’s nice to come back to play again on this beautiful court. I have such a nice feeling when I play here and it’s nice to be in (the) second round.”
Next up for Humbert is 2022 champion Andrey Rublev, who eased past France’s Valentin Royer 6-3, 6-4. The energetic Muscovite shuttled around Center Court like a man incapable of letting a ball past him, with more than one seemingly impossible return sent safely back by the 28-year-old.
Royer saved eight second-set break points by the time he levelled the set at 2-2, but Rublev’s serving was at times unplayable. His shot selection must have left his opponent bewildered as he mixed impudent drop shots with returnable volleys at the net.
“It was a great win for me because I knew very well in our first meeting, I lost,” said Rublev. “[Royer’s] a great fighter, and I’m really happy that I was able to take that challenge and go through in straight sets. When you play so late, to have some time to recover before the next match is so important.”
On facing Humbert, he added: “It’s going to be great for me to see my level because Ugo is a great player. He’s hitting the ball really hard; he’s getting better and better, and always fights until the end, playing super aggressive and hitting bombs from all over the place. He’s won here in the past too, so it’s going to be an interesting fight.”
Earlier in the day, eighth seed Jiri Lehecka survived losing the first set to Lucky Loser Luca Nardi — a late injury replacement for France’s Arthur Fils — by recovering to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. The Czech world No. 22 will face Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta on Wednesday after the qualifier disposed of Canada’s Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-4.
In the final game on New Court 1, sixth seed Jakub Mensik edged past Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 6-4, 7-6 (7). Mensik will face Australia’s Alexei Popyrin, the world No. 47, who narrowly edged out Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak 3-6, 6-3, 7-6.
Meanwhile on Court 2, world No. 25 Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands — the highest-ranked player not seeded in Dubai this week — defeated Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen 6-3, 6-4 to set-up a mouthwatering second round match against second seed Alexander Bublik.
Elsewhere, Arthur Rinderknech also lost the first set en route to defeating Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The imposing Frenchman will play British fourth seed Jack Draper in the next round. The USA’s Jenson Brooksby, the world No. 49, dispatched Belgium’s Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-4 to seal a last-16 tie against seventh seed Karen Khachanov, who required three sets to eliminate Lucky Loser Alexander Shevchenko of Kazakhstan 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3.
