Franz Beckenbauer, who achieved the rare feat of winning the World Cup both as a player and a coach, was laid to rest in Munich in a private ceremony on Friday.
According to German tabloid Bild, Beckenbauer, who passed away at the age of 78 on Sunday, was interred in the Perlacher Forest cemetery, just two kilometers from his childhood home in suburban Munich. Photographs captured the poignant scene of Beckenbauer's flower-adorned coffin being carried through the snow-covered cemetery in the southern part of Bavarian capital.
He found his final resting place beside his son Stephan, who succumbed to a brain tumor at 46 in 2015, and his parents, who are also buried in the same cemetery. The ceremony on Friday was an intimate gathering limited to close friends and family.
Bayern Munich, Beckenbauer's former club, has scheduled a public commemoration at their Allianz Arena stadium on January 19. This event, held in the 75,000-seat stadium, will be open to the public and broadcast on German television.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz's spokesperson confirmed that the German leader will attend the commemoration to express "great respect and recognition for one of our country's great athletes." /BGNES
