During his illustrious career in the 1960s and 70s, Müller scored a record of 365 goals for Bayern in the Bundesliga and 68 goals for the Federal Republic of Germany in 62 international matches.
File image by Gerd Müller. AFP
Gerd Müller’s record of 68 international goals in 62 games for the Federal Republic of Germany earned him the nickname « The Bomber » because he was able to destroy countless defenses.
Miroslav Klose needed more than twice as many games to finally to surpass the total of 71 goals in 137 international matches and thus surpass the Mueller mark.
In the 1971/72 season, Müller, who died of Alzheimer’s on Sunday at the age of 75, scored an unbelievable 40 league goals in 34 games .
Until the 41st
Born on November 3, 1945, Müller’s career coincided with a golden era for West German football and the rise of FC Bayern Munich.
His short, stocky figure also coincided with barrel-shaped chest led club coach Zlatko Cajkovski to joke: « What should I do with a weightlifter? » the goals he scored wrote him down in the club’s folklore.
As Müller’s former team-mate Franz Beckenbauer said: « Everything Bayern have become is thanks to Gerd Müller and his goals. »
Before he was 18, Müller went through various school and youth teams before moving to his hometown club TSV Nördlingen, for which he scored a remarkable 180 goals in the 1962/63 season that caught Bayern’s attention.
His strength he owed his mother’s rich potato salad and Cajkovski affectionately referred to him as the « fat little miller ».
The club never looked back, came third in its first season in the first division and won the German Cup, an achievement which they repeated in 1967, 1969 and 1971.
In 1969, FC Bayern became German champions for the first time and won three titles in a row in 1972, 1973 and 1974.
The mark was only exceeded in May 2016 when Pep Guardiola won the Bavaria trained for the fourth Bundesliga title in a row, which has now become nine years in a row.
The Bayern dream team of the 1970s won the European Cup three times in a row from 1974 to 1976, and Mueller’s goals – often from close range – were decisive.
At the World Cup finals in Mexico in 1970, Mueller scored 10 goals and was the top scorer before Germany won the European Championship in 1972.
Mueller then inscribed himself in German football folklore by scoring the winning goal scored for the 2-1 victory in the 1974 World Cup final against the Netherlands in Munich.
In its 62 international matches, Germany celebrated 45 wins, nine draws and only eight defeats.
Then after he was 28 years old Having become world champion, Müller suddenly announced his resignation.
In 1979, when his place in Bavaria was no longer guaranteed, Mueller accepted a lucrative contract to play in the USA and signed a two-and-a-half year contract i the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.
In 1982 he retired from football and fell into a deep personal crisis in which he fought against alcoholism and depression.
FC Bayern never forgets its scorer hero and Uli Hoeneß, the Team manager at the time, helped him back on his feet, offered him a job meeting and welcomed the club’s visitors, then as a scouting and finally as a coach for strikers.
Mueller acquired his coaching license in 1992 and became head coach of the reserves in 1995/96. He helped promote current Germany star Thomas Mueller, who was not a relative, at Bayern.
But he struggled with his health and his suffering was often put on public display when he played at Bayern’s home games looked unsteady on his feet.
In October 2015 it was revealed that he had Alzheimer’s disease, and in his later years one of football’s most prolific scorers was rarely seen in public.
New date:
August 15, 2021 6:02:55 pm IST
KEYWORDS:
A statement on behalf of Premier League players said: “We believe that it is now more important than ever to keep kneeling as a symbol of our unity against all forms of racism.
Kane was back in training with the Spurs squad on Friday and manager Nuno Espirito Santo said he would make a late decision on whether to play the striker against a team Kane would like to join.
The first half of the DFB Cup will take place without Bayern Munich after the squad of Bremen’s opponent Bremer SV was quarantined for 14 days because of three players who tested positive.
Sign up for a weekly curated briefing on key strategic matters from around the world.
Keywords:
