Football Legend Franz Beckenbauer Dies At 78: German Football Federation

Franz Beckenbauer, an iconic German player and later coach with a knack for leading his teams to greatness, has died at the age of 78. Beckenbauer, one of only three men to win the World Cup as player and as a coach, was known as the Kaiser, a title that fitted both his stylish and assured playing style and his natural leadership.  "He was so elegant he wasn't really German," Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, a team-mate and later fellow administrator at Bayern Munich, said in a profile on the Bundesliga's official website. "He just oozed class and quality." 

Beckenbauer helped establish Bayern as Germany's strongest club. At international level, he played a key role as Germany became a football powerhouse. Yet his final triumph, leading Germany's successful organisation of the 2006 World Cup, ultimately cast a shadow over his legacy, when he was implicated in possible corruption in securing the hosting rights.

Beckenbauer was born in derelict Munich in 1945, four months after the end of the Second World War.

"When I look at my life, I must have been born under a lucky star," he said looking back. 

He was a childhood fan of Bayern's local rivals, but after an 1860 Munich player slapped him in a youth tournament, he made the fateful decision to switch loyalties. 

"It wasn't the hand of God but a slap from an 1860 player," he said later. 

While 1860 were selected as founder members of the Bundesliga in 1963, cash-strapped Bayern relied on youth to escape the regional leagues.  

Beckenbauer made a scoring debut at 18 as an outside left in June 1963 in the promotion play-offs as Bayern narrowly missed out. He became a regular a month into the next season, scoring 16 goals as they cruised to promotion. 

By 1966 he was in the West German midfield as they lost the World Cup final 4-2 to hosts England.  

"I was told to mark what was then the best player: Bobby Charlton. Bobby told me later that (England manager) Alf Ramsey had told him to keep an eye on this young, good-looking German guy," he said.

"England beat us because Bobby Charlton was just a little bit better than me." 

As teams switched from a back three to a back four, Beckenbauer dropped into central defence but revolutionised the position. He developed the role of "libero", sauntering forward to support the attack. With a relaxed swing of either boot, he could shoot from range with power, accuracy and swerve.  

Beckenbauer took his revenge on England in Mexico in 1970, scoring the first goal as West Germany came from 2-0 down to beat the holders 3-2 in the quarter-finals. 

In the semis against Italy, Beckenbauer dislocated his shoulder after West Germany had used their two permitted substitutes. He played in a sling as his team lost 4-3 in extra time in an all-time World Cup classic.  

Four years later, Beckenbauer captained West Germany to victory. They beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the final in his home city of Munich after Johan Cruyff had given the Dutch a first-minute lead. 

"Johan was a better player, but I won the World Cup," Beckenbauer would say. 

Beckenbauer took over as national coach in 1984. He managed West Germany to victory in Italy in 1990, when they beat Argentina 1-0 in the final. 

He said he told the team to "get out there, have fun, play football."   

Only Mario Zagallo, who died on Friday aged 92, Didier Deschamps and Beckenbauer have won the World Cup as both player and manager. 

Beckenbauer also accumulated medals at club level. 

He made 424 Bundesliga appearances, mostly in a 13-year spell for Bayern, where he won four German titles and three European Cups. 

He joined Pele at the New York Cosmos in 1977.  

"It was the best decision in my life to come to New York," Beckenbauer told the New York Times in 1978. "Here it is so private. I go places without people recognising me."   

He was lured back to the Bundesliga by Hamburg where we won another German title in 1982 before returning to New York for a final season with the Cosmos. 

"Success is like hunting a shy deer," he once said. "The wind has to be right. The scent, the stars and the moon." 

Beckenbauer had stints as manager at both Bayern and Marseille, winning the French title in 1991 and the Bundesliga in 1994. 

It was in that year that he became president of Bayern, although he coached the team for five games in 1996. He became a vice-president of the German Football Association (DFB) and in 2007 joined the Executive Committee of football's world governing body, FIFA. 

He was head of the organising committee for the 2006 World Cup. The successful tournament is nostalgically referred to in Germany as "the summer fairytale". 

However, the story turned sour in October 2015 when German magazine Spiegel alleged that, in 2000, the DFB had bought votes before beating South Africa 12-11 to win the hosting rights. 

"I have not sent anyone money to acquire votes for the awarding of the 2006 World Cup to Germany," insisted Beckenbauer. 

In 2019, Swiss prosecutors charged three former DFB officials with fraud relating to the 2006 World Cup but left out Beckenbauer's name.  

They then deemed Beckenbauer, who had heart surgery in 2016 and 2017, "unable for health reasons to participate or to be questioned" in court. 

Beckenbauer was also banned for 90 days by FIFA in June 2014 for allegedly refusing to cooperate with an inquiry into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar. 

Beckenbauer had five children from three relationships, one a marriage. When he was 18, he was dropped from the West German youth team after his unwed girlfriend became pregnant and he refused to marry her. 

"I've had my family tree researched," he said much later. The Beckenbauers "were merry people, all the kids born out of wedlock. We've carried on the tradition."

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Rahane Explains Absence From Mumbai Ranji Trophy Team Against Bihar

As the Indian cricket team struggled to put runs on the board on the tricky South African conditions, fans and some former cricketers recalled Ajinkya Rahane's heroics in the Rainbow Nation. As Rahane's fans keep their hopes of seeing the veteran batter making a Test comeback alive, it was strange to see him not making Mumbai's playing XI for the Ranji Trophy match against Bihar. The veteran batter, however, has now revealed that his absence was due to a small injury concern.

"I have a great passion for playing, and that's why I came to Patna. I never back down from playing. However, during a practice session, I suffered a minor injury in my neck. That's why I am not playing this match. But I will definitely play in the upcoming Ranji matches," Rahane was quoted as saying by India Today.

Fans turned up in huge numbers in Patna for the Bihar vs Mumbai match, leaving players like Rahane mesmerised.

"It's not like they were only supporting Bihar," said Rahane. "They are supporting the Mumbai team along with the Bihar team."

Earlier, Rahane posted a video of him batting in the nets, gearing up for the Ranji Trophy campaign with Mumbai. With the Indian team for the England series not yet announced, Rahane, along with Cheteshwar Pujara, remain in the fray for a recall. However, the latter has a bigger chance of being called up, courtesy of his double ton in the recent Ranji Trophy match.

Pujara and Rahane are two of the finest batters India have had in the Test format. But, the selection committee are looking to find their long-term replacements in the longest format of the game. The likes of Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, etc. are being backed for the future but they are yet to cement thier spots in the team.

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Klee Benally, Navajo Activist and Artist, Dies at 48

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Bangladesh Cricket Team Captain Shakib Al Hasan Wins Parliament Seat

Bangladeshi cricket captain Shakib Al Hasan won a seat in the country's parliament Sunday after a landslide victory in a general election boycotted by the opposition, an official said. The 36-year all-rounder, who leads the country in all formats of the game, beat his rival by a margin of more than 150,000 votes in his constituency in the western town of Magura, the district's chief administrator Abu Naser Beg said. "It was a landslide victory," he said. There is no immediate comment from the cricketer, a candidate of the ruling Awami League party of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is herself widely expected to win a fifth term in power after the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) boycotted the vote.

Shakib, speaking ahead of the election, conceded he was not facing any serious obstacle but told AFP the contest still made him anxious.

"The competition and challenges are always there, be it a small team or big team," he said.

Shakib's campaign obliged him to take a temporary leave of absence from cricket.

He has bristled at the suggestion he would not be able to balance his duties as a lawmaker and a cricket captain.

"Did I retire?" he asked during campaigning. "If I haven't retired, then where does this question come from?"

Shakib is the only person to have been ranked the number-one all-rounder in all three formats simultaneously by the International Cricket Council.

He was a teenager when he was recruited to the country's premier sports academy and just 19 at his international debut in 2006 as a batting all-rounder.

By the following year, he was already a star when he hit a fifty in a David-and-Goliath show against India in the World Cup -- a victory still spoken of reverentially by Bangladeshi fans.

He has also garnered a reputation for ill-discipline, with a rebellious streak that once saw him threaten a spectator with a bat, and that earned him a three-match ban after making a lewd gesture to a television crew.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Joseph Hendrie, 98, Dies; Key Figure in the Three Mile Island Crisis

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Meet India's Youngest First-Class Debutant From Bihar, Vaibhav Suryavanshi

The ongoing edition of Ranji Trophy is gaining all the attention as batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi has made his first-class debut. The special thing about this batter is his age, as he is only 12-years-old. Vaibhav made his debut for Bihar in Ranji Trophy match against Mumbai on Friday at the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium, Patna. With his historic debut, this young lad surpassed the batting icons of India Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh, to become the youngest debutant in India's first-class cricket.

Sachin made his first-class debut at the age of 15 years and 230 days. On the other hand, Yuvraj was 15 years and 57 days old, at the time of his debut.

Talking about Vaibhav, the young Bihar-based batter had earlier played for India B U19 team in a Quadrangular Under-19 series. He stunned everyone with his performance as he scored 177 runs in six matches, including two fifties.

Viabhav then went on to feature in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy, where he emerged as the eighth highest run-scorer with a total of 393 runs. His stats include a century and three half-centuries.

Earlier, Bihar's Moin-ul-Haq Stadium hogged limelight for a wrong reason. The venue is hosting a Ranji Trophy Elite Group match after a 27-year-long gap and the miserable condition of the stadium has become a talking point.

It is worth noting that Bihar is currently playing against Mumbai in an Elite Group B match at the Moin-Ul-Haq Stadium.

As stars like Sarfaraz Khan and Shivam Dube are playing in the match, fans entered the stadium in huge number but no proper seating and the deteriorating condition of the stadium has invited wide criticism.

A video of the stadium's poor condition went viral on social media and that saw former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad also slamming the state's cricket governing body.

"This is unacceptable. Ranji Trophy is the premiere domestic competition in India and it's time all stakeholders realise it's value. Don't see any valid reason for the state association not rectifying this," said Venkatesh while reacting to the viral video.

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Alexander Isak Stars As Newcastle Beat Bitter Rivals Sunderland In FA Cup

Newcastle ended their 13-year wait to beat bitter rivals Sunderland as Alexander Isak's double inspired a 3-0 win in the FA Cup third round on Saturday. In the first Tyne and Wear derby since 2016, Eddie Howe's side put their bitter local rivals to the sword thanks to Dan Ballard's first-half own goal and Isak's brace after the break at the Stadium of Light. Newcastle had lost six of their previous seven clashes with Sunderland, but their composed display neutered the fired-up Black Cats and delivered a first derby success since a 1-0 victory in 2011. After four successive defeats in all competitions, Howe hoped the derby would be a "season-changing" moment to salve the wounds from their Champions League exit and poor Premier League form. Whether vanquishing second-tier opponents will prove transformative remains to be seen, but for now local pride was all that mattered to the 6,000 Newcastle fans who waved their black and white scarves in delight at the final whistle.

While the northeast rivalry might lack the glamour of the Manchester and north London derbies, there is no questioning the rivalry between clubs separated by just 14 miles.

Encapsulating the enmity was a bizarre incident this week when Sunderland were forced to apologise to furious fans after a stadium bar was redecorated with Newcastle colours in the corporate hospitality section of the visitors' support.

Newcastle's fans were taken to the stadium on buses in a huge police convoy, then given their tickets to the match, in a bid to avoid the violent scenes that have marred previous encounters.

Howe had enlisted the help of the few Geordies in Newcastle's squad to tell the rest of his globally assembled squad just how important the derby is.

The message clearly hit home as Newcastle dominated a frenetic encounter.

Responding to the sound and fury in the stands, tackles flew in with abandon from both teams. 

Sunderland's Jobe Bellingham, brother of Real Madrid star Jude, caught Joelinton with a crude lunge before Jack Clarke pole-axed Sven Botman to the audible delight of the Black Cats fans.

Amid the maelstrom, Newcastle kept their nerve and snatched the lead in the 35th minute as Ballard stretched to block Joelinton's cross but only succeeded in diverting the ball into his own net.

Sunderland gifted Newcastle their second goal less than 60 seconds after the interval when Almiron robbed the dawdling Pierre Ekwah inside his own area and teed up Isak to fire home from 10 yards.

Ballard's 90th minute foul on Anthony Gordon conceded a penalty that Isak converted to cap the exclamation point on Newcastle's victory.

Non-league Maidstone United, the lowest ranked team left in the competition, clinched a surprise 1-0 win against Stevenage to reach the fourth round for the first time.

There is a 69-place gap between George Elkobi's Kent-based club and third-tier Stevenage.

But in their first third round appearance since 1988, the National League South minnows made history as Sam Corne netted a penalty in first half stoppage-time before fans flooded the pitch in celebration at the final whistle.

In Saturday's other early third round ties, Leicester took a break from their Championship promotion push to beat Millwall 3-2 at The Den.

Ten points clear at the top of the Championship, the 2021 FA Cup winners were able to rest several players and still saw off Millwall through goals from Cesare Casadei, Ricardo Pereira and Tom Cannon.

Ipswich, who are second to Leicester in the Championship, moved into the fourth round with a 3-1 win at League Two side AFC Wimbledon.

Later on Saturday, inconsistent Chelsea will look to avoid a shock at home to Championship side Preston, while surprise title chasers Aston Villa travel to second-tier Middlesbrough.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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