Football is losing its “emperor”. Franz Beckenbauer died on Sunday at the age of 78, as his family confirmed to the “German Press Agency”. The death of the German football legend provoked numerous reactions, and not just in this country. The international press reviews:
Germany
kicker: “World champion, emperor, shining light: Franz Beckenbauer.”
The mirror: “An emperor despite everything. Franz Beckenbauer was much more than a footballer. He shaped the Federal Republic like Konrad Adenauer and Willy Brandt. Then the revelations about the summer fairy tale affair caught up with him. But he remains a figure of the century.”
Southgerman newspaper: “Franz Beckenbauer was probably the greatest footballer that Germany has produced. For a long time he was the man who could do everything with ease – and in his lightness he was the German who actually doesn’t exist. He only experienced the shadows of life late.”
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: “The last German emperor. No German before or since played as elegantly, so casually, as beautifully as Franz Beckenbauer. On the pitch he created the role of the free man, which he also filled off the pitch. About someone who could do anything for a long time – and allowed himself a lot.”
ntv.de: “Even during his lifetime, the ‘Kaiser’ was removed from the earthly world: the first pop star of German football, world champion as a player and as a coach – a shining figure. Because he never took off despite all his success, he remained a man of the people. Even when he got lost in the shadow realm.”
England
The Sun: “RIP Der Kaiser. A legend forever. The German is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.”
BBC: “German football legend Franz Beckenbauer, considered one of the greatest footballers in the world, has died at the age of 78.”
The Independent: “German soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer dies at the age of 78. Beckenbauer is one of only three men to have won the World Cup as both a player and a coach and to have received the Ballon d’Or twice.”
Italy
Gazzetta dello Sport: “The world is losing its football emperor. To explain his legendary status, people in Germany used to say that Beckenbauer was below God but above the Chancellor.”
The Republic: “The Emperor was born to be free. Farewell to Franz Beckenbauer, one of the few players of the past who would not be out of place in today’s football.”
Tuttosport: “Beckenbauer has died, football is in mourning: the German legend was 78 years old.”
Spain
Marca: “Franz Beckenbauer, legend of FC Bayern and world football, has died.”
Sports: “Mourning in the world of football. Franz Beckenbauer, the legendary German player and one of the best central defenders in history, has died at the age of 78. With this, German football is saying goodbye to one of its great personalities, who suffered from health problems.”
Switzerland
View: “A Munich man in heaven. Franz Beckenbauer was a football icon. The emperor died on Sunday at the age of 78.”