大象传媒

Nicknamed 'Der Kaiser', Franz Beckenbauer revolutionised the way football was played as a defensive sweeper.

He won the World Cup as captain of West Germany in 1974 and lifted the trophy again as manager in 1990.

In German domestic leagues, he played 582 times for Bayern Munich and won the German top flight as both a player and a manager.

A statement from his family to German news agency DPA read: "It is with deep sadness that we announce that my husband and our father, Franz Beckenbauer, passed away peacefully in his sleep yesterday, Sunday [January 7], surrounded by his family.

Journalist Helene Sophie Altgelt, who knew Beckenbauer, tells Newsday she thinks "he was one of the best football players of all time... and one of the last players of the great generation with Pele and Maradonna."

Pic: Germany's Franz Beckenbauer in action for the ball during the FIFA 1974 World Cup football final between Germany and the Netherlands. Credit: EPA-EFE