Didier Deschamps pays tribute to a “world-class player”

World champion in 1974 as a player, then in 1990 as coach with Germany, Franz Beckenbauer died on Monday at the age of 78.

Franz Beckenbauer “exuded a class, a confidence that many have sought to draw inspiration from”, reacts, Monday January 8, Didier Deschamps in a press release. The coach of the French football team salutes the German world champion, who died Monday at the age of 78.

Didier Deschamps shares his “tremendous sadness” upon the announcement of the disappearance of “Kaiser”world champion in 1974 as a player with the FRG, then world champion as a coach with the same national team in 1990. “His disappearance comes just a few days after that [du Brésilien] Mario Zagallo. It was a huge honor for me to join them both in 2018 among those who won the World Cup as a player and then as a coach.”writes the French coach. “My pain, today, is equal to the happiness that was mine to be invited to the table of these two giants of international football”continues Didier Deschamps.

“The requirement of the very high level”

Captain of the world champions in 1998 then coach of the world champion team in 2018 and finalist in 2022, Didier Deschamps remembers a “world class player, a talented and authoritative defender with his almost forever club, Bayern Munich”with whom he had been four times German champion and three times European champion.

For Didier Deschamps, Franz Beckenbauer “was an extremely respected personality, who embodied the demands of the very highest level”. The Blues coach “addresses his family, his loved ones, and all those who, like [lui]admired him, all [son] support in this sad and painful moment”.