Full Name: Franz Anton Beckenbauer; Profession: German professional football (soccer) player, manager, and football executive, a revolutionary attacking sweeper and longtime leader at both Bayern Munich and the West Germany national team; Nationality: German; Born: 11 September 1945; Birthplace: Munich, Bavaria, Germany (then West Germany); Generation: Silent Generation (born in the commonly used 1928–1945 cohort, whose members grew up amid the Great Depression and World War II); Chinese Zodiac: Wood Rooster, as 1945 from 13 February 1945 to 1 February 1946 is a Rooster year with the Wood element in Chinese astrology and his 1945 birth falls within that range; Zodiac Sign: Virgo, since people born on 11 September fall under Virgo in Western astrology; Age in 2026: 81 (he would have turned 81 years old on 11 September 2026, although he actually died in January 2024 at the age of 78); Marital Status: Married three times in his lifetime—first to Brigitte Beckenbauer (née Schiller), later to Sybille, and finally to Heidi, with whom he lived in Salzburg from 2005 onward and remained married until his death in 2024; Children: Father of five children—Thomas (born 1963), Michael (born 1966), Stephan (1968–2015), and later Joel (born 2000) and Francesca (born 2003), with Stephan himself becoming a professional footballer before his death; Description: Nicknamed “Der Kaiser” (“The Emperor”) for his elegant authority on the pitch and symbolic stature in German football, Beckenbauer began his senior career at Bayern Munich in the 1960s, helping transform the club from a regional side into a European powerhouse by captaining them to four Bundesliga titles, four DFB-Pokal wins, the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1967, and three consecutive European Champions’ Cups (now the UEFA Champions League) from 1974 to 1976, while also starring for the New York Cosmos and Hamburger SV later in his playing days; as captain of West Germany, he led his country to victory at the 1972 UEFA European Championship and the 1974 FIFA World Cup, then returned as national team manager to guide West Germany to another World Cup title in 1990, making him one of only three men ever to win the World Cup both as a player and as a coach; famed for redefining the sweeper (libero) role by stepping out of defense to direct attacks with composure and long passing, he collected individual honors such as two Ballon d’Or awards (1972 and 1976) and multiple German Footballer of the Year titles, while later serving as Bayern Munich president and supervisory board chairman, vice president of the German Football Association, and figurehead of Germany’s successful bid and organizing committee for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, a tournament that cemented his image as a global ambassador for the sport even as he faced later criticism and investigations over alleged irregularities in the World Cup bidding process; Cause of Death: Died on 7 January 2024 in Salzburg, Austria, after years of serious health issues—including Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and multiple heart surgeries—passing away peacefully in his sleep surrounded by family, according to statements, with reports emphasizing his prolonged ill health but without an officially detailed medical cause of death being publicly specified.