Wave of nostalgia for 'good old days' of Chinese soccer

Der Kaiser, German soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer, passed away at 78 in Munich on Sunday. A versatile player, Beckenbauer, whose career lasted from 1959 to 1983, started out as a midfielder, but made his name as a central defender. He worked as a coach from 1984 to 1996.

Although Beckenbauer spent most of his career as player and coach in Germany, his influence was global. One of nine players to have won the FIFA World Cup, the European Champions Cup, and the Ballon d'Or, he is credited as having invented the role of the modern sweeper (libero).

His passing has triggered a wave of nostalgia among many Chinese soccer fans about the "good old days" when they would watch soccer matches together on the only small black-and-white TV in their neighborhood in a crowded room in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as Chinese soccer at that time, when it was still regarded as a formidable football power in Asia.