FC Bayern Munich has ennobled Franz Beckenbauer as the most important figure for the club.
After the news about the death of the former football shining light, Bavaria’s honorary president Uli Hoeneß said in a statement: “Franz Beckenbauer is the greatest personality that FC Bayern has ever had. As a player, coach, president, person: unforgettable. Nobody will ever be him achieve. People can say that they saw football in Franz Beckenbauer’s time. He was a friend to me, a unique companion – and a gift to all of us. Dear Franz, rest in peace!”
Hoeneß had become world and European champions together with Beckenbauer; they were teammates at Bayern and later worked together at official level at Säbener Straße. Beckenbauer died on Sunday at the age of 78.
Hainer: “Beckenbauer brought the shine”
“Franz Beckenbauer rewrote the history of German football and had a lasting impact,” said Bayern’s former CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. “He was my captain at FC Bayern, my coach of the national team, our president at Bayern and in all of these roles he was not only successful but unique. As a personality, he impressed with his great respect for all people – because before Franz everyone was equal. German football is losing the greatest personality in its history. We will miss him more than painfully. Thank you for everything, dear Franz!”
“The world of FC Bayern is no longer what it used to be – suddenly darker, quieter, poorer,” it said on the homepage of the German football record champions. Club president Herbert Hainer said: “There are no words to express how great our sadness is – and what a gap Franz Beckenbauer leaves behind. As a player, he brought lightness onto the field, elegance and magic: Franz Beckenbauer brought the shine.”
