Gerd Müller (German pronunciation:[ˈɡɛʁtˈmʏlɐ]; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021)[2] was a German professionalfootballer. A prolificstriker, especially in and around thesix-yard box, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalscorers and players in the history of the sport.[3] With success at club and international level, he is one of ten players to have won theFIFA World Cup, theUEFA Champions League and theBallon d'Or.
At international level withWest Germany, he scored68 goals in 62 appearances, and at club level, in 15 years withBayern Munich, in which he scored 365 goals in 427Bundesliga matches, he became—and still is—record holder of that league. In 74 European club games he scored 65 goals. Averaging over a goal a game with West Germany, Müller was, as of 11 July 2021, 21st on the list ofall time international goalscorers, despite having played fewer matches than every other player in the top 48. Among the top scorers, he has the third-highest goal-to-game ratio. He also had the highest ratio of 0.97 goals per game in theEuropean Cup, scoring 34 goals in 35 matches.[4]
Born 3 November 1945, inNördlingen, Germany, Müller began his football career at his hometown clubTSV 1861 Nördlingen youth ranks in 1958. Aged 18, Müller joinedBayern Munich in 1964, where he teamed up with future starsFranz Beckenbauer andSepp Maier. The club, which would go on to become the most successful German club in history, was then still in theRegionalliga Süd(Regional League South), which was one level below theBundesliga at the time.
After one season, Bayern Munich advanced to the Bundesliga and started a long string of successes. With his club, Müller amassed titles during the 1960s and 1970s: he won the German Championship four times, theDFB-Pokal four times, theEuropean Cup three consecutive years (the first West German team to win it; Müller scored in the1974 final replay and the1975 final), theIntercontinental Cup once, and theEuropean Cup Winners' Cup once.[7]
An opportunistic goal-scorer, Müller also became German top scorer seven times and European top scorer twice. Müller scored 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga matches for Bayern Munich, 53 goals over the second-most successful Bundesliga scorer,Robert Lewandowski, since 2022.[7]
At his peak, Müller held the single-season Bundesliga record with 40 goals inseason 1971–72, a record that would be held until Lewandowski scored 41 goals during the2020–21 season, also for Bayern Munich.[8] Then, Müller also held the record for most club goals scored in all European club competitions in one season for 40 years,scoring 67 goals during the1972–73 FC Bayern Munich season, and 85 (72 for Munich, 13 West Germany) goals in total during 1972. However, that record was surpassed byLionel Messi ofFC Barcelona in Spain who scored 73 in the2011/12 season, and 91 goals in the calendar year of 2012.[9][10][11]
Müller scored68 goals in 62 games forWest Germany.[7] He was Germany's all-time leading scorer for almost 40 years until surpassed byMiroslav Klose in 2014, though Klose required over double the number of caps to do so, scoring his 69th goal in his 132nd appearance.[14] Müller's international career started in 1966 and ended on 7 July 1974 with victory at the1974 FIFA World Cup at hishome stadium in Munich.[15] He scored the winning goal for the 2–1 victory overJohan Cruyff'sNetherlands inthe final. His four goals in that tournament and his ten goals at the1970 FIFA World Cup combined made him the all-time highestFIFA World Cup goalscorer at the time with 14 goals. His record stood until the2006 tournament, coincidentally held in Germany, when it was broken by Brazilian strikerRonaldo, who also required more matches than Müller to achieve his tally.[5] Müller also participated in the1972 European Championship, becoming top scorer with four goals (including two inthe final) and winning the Championship with the West German team.[7]
Müller quit playing for West Germany after the 1974 FIFA World Cup triumph. While there was an argument with theGerman Football Association (DFB) at the post-tournament celebration, when officials' wives were allowed to attend but players' wives were not, Müller said that he had made the decision already before the end of the tournament.[16]
After Müller ended his career in 1981, he fell into a slump and suffered fromalcoholism. However, his former companions at Bayern Munich convinced him to go throughalcohol rehabilitation. When he emerged, they gave him a job as a coach atBayern Munich II.
He held the position from 1992 until he retired in 2014 due to health problems. There is also a collection of apparel released by sporting giantsAdidas under the Gerd Müller name. It is part of the Adidas originals series. In July 2008, the Rieser Sportpark, in Nördlingen, where Müller had begun his career, was renamed the Gerd-Müller-Stadion in his honour.[17][18]
In his book,Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football, authorDavid Winner writes, "Müller was short, squat, awkward-looking and not notably fast; he never fitted the conventional idea of a great footballer, but he had lethal acceleration over short distances, a remarkable aerial game, and uncanny goalscoring instincts. His short legs gave him a low center of gravity, so he could turn quickly and with perfect balance in spaces and at speeds that would cause other players to fall over. He also had a knack of scoring in unlikely situations."[22]
Müller used extreme acceleration, agility, and deceptive changes of pace to get to loose balls first, and bypass defenders.[23][24] His teammateFranz Beckenbauer has emphasized Müller's unusual speed: "His pace was incredible. In training I have played against him and I never had a chance."[25]
A prolific goalscorer, Müller was also known for his movement, coordination, intelligence, and clinical finishing inside the penalty area.[24][26][27][28] He had the ability to score goals from awkward positions with almost any part of his body, not only with his head or either foot.[24][29]
Müller scored 68 goals in 62 games for West Germany. His 14 goals in FIFA World Cup tournaments were a record between 1974 and 2006. This score was bettered in 2006 by Brazil's Ronaldo, and eight years later by German Miroslav Klose who achieved a total of 16 World Cup goals, and who also broke Müller's record for goals for Germany with 71 goals in 137 matches.[42][43] However, Müller managed to score eight hat-tricks in his international career.[44]
^Milde, Robert (30 October 2019)."Lust und Frust mit der Heimatstadt".Augsburger Allgemeine (in German).Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved15 August 2021.(subscription required)
^"Beckenbauer schwelgt in Erinnerungen" [Beckenbauer revels in memories].UEFA. Archived fromthe original on 4 June 2012. Retrieved20 February 2020....seine Schnelligkeit war unglaublich. Im Training habe ich gegen ihn gespielt und ich hatte nie eine Chance. Wir kannten seine Bewegungsabläufe, konnten ihn aber trotzdem nicht stoppen – so schnell war er.
^Hartmann, Ulrich (11 May 2010).""Ich könnte heulen"" [I could cry] (in German). Sueddeutsche.de.Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved6 September 2014.
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