German football icon Franz Beckenbauer dies at age 78

German football icon Franz Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup as a captain and as a coach, has died at age 78, his family told dpa on Monday.

Known as Der Kaiser (The Emperor), Beckenbauer redefined the sweeper position in the 1960s and 1970s with his elegant style and leadership.

Apart from his national team success, he earned countless honours with his long-time club Bayern Munich, including three straight European Cups and the Intercontinental Cup.

"It is with deep sadness that we inform you that my husband and our father Franz Beckenbauer passed away peacefully yesterday, Sunday, surrounded by his family," the family announced. "We ask that you mourn in silence and refrain from asking any questions."

Beckenbauer played alongside Brazil legend Pele at New York Cosmos, spent two years back in West Germany at SV Hamburg before ending his glittering playing career after another short stint at Cosmos in 1983.

A year later he became national team coach, and, after losing the 1986 World Cup final to Diego Maradona's Argentina, lifted the World Cup in 1990 with victory against the South Americans.

Beckenbauer was Bayern coach briefly in the 1990s, club president 1994-2009, and chief organizer of the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

However, dubious payments in connection with the tournament, which have never been fully cleared up, tainted his image in his later years just like controversial remarks on the situation of migrant workers in 2022 World Cup host nation Qatar.

He disappeared more and more from the public eye, also due to illnesses.

A slap in the face decided his and Bayern's fate - the Munich-born Beckenbauer had initially planned to join city rivals 1860 Munich at a young age.

But after being hit by 1860 player Gerhard König during a match when he was 13, he joined Bayern instead in 1959 and made his first-team debut aged 18 in 1964, Bayern's final year to date in the second division.

Ten years later, in 1974, he helped Bayern win a fourth Bundesliga title with him in the team, a first European Cup title against Atletico Madrid, and captained West Germany to World Cup glory against the Netherlands in his Munich home stadium. They had also won the Euros two years earlier.

He was part of Bayern's first golden generation with striker Gerd Müller, winger Uli Hoeneß, defender Paul Breitner and goalkeeper Sepp Maier.

Beckenbauer won 103 caps, scoring 14 goals, between 1965 and 1977, and in the Bundesliga had 424 appearances with 44 goals.

He was as present off the pitch as on it, starring in soup commercials in the early 1970s and other ads in his later days - plus having a column in the Bild tabloid for many years.

The once passionate golfer was married three times and had five children. One of them, Stephan, was also a professional footballer who died in 2015.