Football | The emperor led the German march from the dark years of the shadows to the light – this is how Franz Beckenbauer became the most famous libero in football history

Memory image about soccer from the top of the world in the summer under Midsummer 1970. The semi-final game of the World Cup final tournament in Mexico is going on between Italy and West Germany.

The thriller-like semi-final has progressed to overtime at Mexico's Azteca Stadium. The teams take turns scoring goals, and Italy finally gets to celebrate a 4–3 victory and a place in the World Cup final.

However, the most memorable player can be found in West Germany's losing team. Its libero Franz Beckenbauer has injured his shoulder and is trudging on the field in overtime to give his teammates several ten-meter long passes with his arm in a sling.

The startling sight describes the leisurely tempo of the game of more than five decades ago on the modern scale, but it does not diminish Beckenbauer's greatness. His passes on the Azteca turf are majestic, precisely measured passes into open spaces, as soccer is now fashionably analyzed.

It was no wonder that with Beckenbauer, who seemed to read the game effortlessly and supported attacks, a less frequently used adjective like “elegant” crept into the association of football.

Beckenbauer died on Sunday at the age of 78 in Munich. He was born on September 11, 1945.

Beckenbauer is the most famous libero in soccer history, the leader of the defense that has free legs on the field. He culminated his national team career as the captain of the world championship at the World Cup home games in 1974, when West Germany suffered a shocking 0-1 defeat to their little brother GDR, which was branded as a sports joke, during the tournament.

The host country won the home tournament under the leadership of Beckenbauer. He was voted the best footballer in Europe for the second time two years later, until changing clubs in the late 1970s after 12 years of service to the great and mighty Bayern Munich Pelé example inspired by the New York Cosmos.

Due to the events of the Second World War, Germanness was in a bad mood for a long time. West Germany's spiritual and economic rise from above was accelerated by football. The first taste of success was the 1954 World Cup, when West Germany surprised Hungary, who was considered invincible, in the World Cup final. Due to the tournament played in Switzerland, the achievement was dubbed the “Miracle of Bern” in West Germany.

Beckenbauer, who made his international breakthrough as a player in the mid-1960s, led from the front as West Germany marched towards brighter times. He culminated his career as Germany's head coach in winning the 1990 World Cup in Italy, West Germany's third world championship.

Beckenbauer won the world championship in Rome 1990 as a coach. Picture: AFP

As a player and coach, like Beckenbauer, the men's world championship has only been won by Brazil Mario Zagallo and France Didier Deschamps. Zagallo died last week at the age of 92.

Already a couple of decades earlier, Beckenbauer had received the nickname “The Emperor” in West Germany thanks to his majestic style of play.

The playing field outside, Beckenbauer's elegance dimmed. His enormous popular popularity in Germany declined in the 2010s, when according to the revelations, it turned out that Beckenbauer, as the chairman of the organizing committee of the 2006 World Cup home tournament, had collected more than five million euros for himself tax-free.

Beckenbauer was indicted for corruption, but the trial material expired in the early 2020s and there was no verdict.

Born in September 1945 in post-war Germany, Beckenbauer was not spared the ravages of time either. Beckenbauer lost the sight in his right eye due to glaucoma. In January 2023, he missed Pelé's funeral due to health problems.

Franz Beckenbauer and his third wife, Heidi, watched the football European Championship match in Vienna, Austria in the summer of 2008. Picture: Oliver Lang/AFP