The world of football began the week with the tragic news of the death of one of the great legends of the sport, the former German player and coach Franz Beckenbauer, who died last Sunday, January 7 at the age of 78.
Nicknamed El Kaiser, he was respected and admired by his colleagues. Considered the greatest legend of German football, his professional triumphs contrasted in a certain way with his tumultuous personal life, being the protagonist of a scandal in the early 2000s that would mark his life forever.
Married three times, it was his last wife, Heidi Beckenbauer, who took on the task of announcing his death, the causes of which have not yet been revealed although it was known that he had been suffering from health complications for several weeks, derived from the Parkinson’s and the dementia that he had suffered for years.
Heidi was precisely the great support of the former footballer, with whom he married in 2006 and with whom he had two children in common, Joel (24) and Francesca (20). A woman who gave him the stability that he had not achieved with his two previous wives.
He married his first, Brigitte, when he was only 20 years old. Along with her, he was the father of three sons: Thomas, Michael and Stephan, who would decide to follow in the footsteps of her famous father. However, the Kaiser saw his life split in two when, at just 46 years old, Stephan Beckenbauer lost his life due to a brain tumor.
He married his second wife, Sybille, the same year he divorced Brigitte. However, they soon divorced, as the scandal came into their lives back in 2004. The “fault”, the birth of Joel, who would be the player’s fourth child, the result of his extramarital relationship with Heidi, who would be his future women.
Beckenbauer was the coach of Bayern Munich at that time, and it was a complete scandal in the press at the time, since Heidi was his secretary and 20 years younger than him. Despite everything, the coach tried to save his marriage to Sybille.
However, the former footballer could not get away from Heidi and, three years later, their second baby together, Francesca, was born. This was the limit for Sybille, who filed for divorce in 2004.
Franz and Heidi Beckenbauer married in 2006 and have since remained together against all odds, including professionally. A scandal that surrounded their lives at the time, but that changed both of their lives forever. In his public appearances, the former Bayern player could not be more proud of his wife, who dedicated her life to him and will now take care of her legacy.
