Stepping back strategically, Franz Beckenbauer positioned himself ahead in the game. The term "libero," derived from the Italian word for "free," denoting a player with a defensive covering role, wasn't entirely novel in football during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Beckenbauer, who passed away at age 78, was a football revolutionary known for his exceptional vision, grace and ball skills in a position rarely explored with such finesse.
Dressed in the iconic white Germany jersey with the number 5, he stood as the epitome of elegance on the field. Beckenbauer earned recognition as a pioneer by infusing an attacking flair into the deepest outfield position.
Whether leading charges from the defensive line with the ball at his feet or delivering precise long-range passes to teammates, he played a pivotal role in initiating his team's attacks.
This impact was felt at Bayern Munich, where he contributed to the club's rise in the mid-1960s and, with the national team, secured a World Cup victory in 1974.
"As a kid, he was the first foreign footballer I'd ever heard of," former England and Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "That's because if any player tried to play out from the back, whether at pro or amateur level, I would hear, 'He thinks he's Beckenbauer.'
"That just shows the impact he had on the world game and how he helped change it."
Beckenbauer actually started out as a central midfielder, the position he played in the 1966 World Cup final when West Germany lost to England, and would still play there at times later in his career. But it was as a libero – or a "sweeper," as some call it – that he really became a phenomenon through the way he read the game and surveyed the scene ahead of him.
"He was essentially a midfielder playing at the back, and he made it look so easy," Paul Lambert, a Champions League winner with Borussia Dortmund in 1997, told the BBC. "He could have kept his suit on most of the time."
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said Beckenbauer's interpretation of the libero role changed the game, epitomizing perhaps the cultural liberalism and spirit of freedom pervading through Europe in the 1960s.
"His friendship with the ball made him free," Nagelsmann said. "Franz Beckenbauer could float across the grass."
Whereas the modern-day sweeper is typically the middle central defender in a back three, Beckenbauer was one of two nominal center backs used as a libero behind a three-man line for Bayern and would pick his moment to step out and bolster the midfield.
That particular role has disappeared from the game, though it lives on in ball-playing center backs in a back four, such as David Alaba at Real Madrid or, a few years back, Rio Ferdinand at Manchester United.
Such was his excellence that "Der Kaiser" – as Beckenbauer was known – was a two-time Ballon d'Or winner (1972 and 1976) and finished second in the voting in 1974 and 1975, amid an era he bestrode while winning three straight German league titles (1972-74) and three straight European Cups (1974-76).
His most famous goal might be a free kick he scored in that period with the outside of his right boot for Bayern at Duisburg in March 1974, an example of the class and impudence of a player who could do things defenders weren't supposed to attempt.
Of all the tributes to Beckenbauer that poured in Monday, few were as fitting as that of UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin.
"His unparalleled versatility, graceful transitions between defense and midfield, impeccable ball control, and visionary style reshaped the way football was played in his era," Ceferin said.
