German World Cup star, Toni Kroos, has openly called the football world to give more respect for sporting idols in the country during their lifetime in the wake of Franz Beckenbauer’s death on at the weekend at the age of 78.
Kroos noted that Germany’s greatest footballer, Beckenbauer, won many titles with Bayern Munich, where he later also was coach and president, and won the World Cup as a player and a coach.
But his image was tainted in later years in connection with dubious payments around Germany’s hosting of the 2006 World Cup of which Beckenbauer was chief organizer.
Beckenbauer effectively disappeared from the public eye since then, and former Bayern and Germany player, Kroos, said in his podcast Einfach mal Luppen that idols like Beckenbauer deserved better treatment.
He said, “Nobody is perfect, everyone makes mistakes, and certainly he as well,”
“Let’s accept that someone is so great and such a good person that they deserve to be celebrated. And, above all, to be celebrated throughout his lifetime.”
Beckenbauer will be commemorated later when state officials led by Prime Minister Markus Söder and Bayern representatives are to sign a condolence book in Munich, and interested members of the public can do the same afterwards.
The German Football Federation (DFB) and league DFL have announced a minute silence at weekend matches, starting with Bayern’s home game against Hoffenheim.
