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He scored goals like no other: Gerd Müller. Image: imago sportphotodienst
The sad birthday of the “bomber” – Gerd Müller turns 75
Germany’s “nation bomber” will turn 75 on Tuesday. Gerd Müller stands out like no other for German virtues and a golden age for Bavaria and the national team.
When it comes to choosing the best footballer in history, Gerd Müller never comes to the fore. The game of the little attacker with an inimitable eye for goal was too inelegant and beautiful to look at. However, its effectiveness was unique and even led to the creation of a new word: müllern.
As a footballer, the only 1.76 meter tall Swabian was the king of the penalty area. No German striker before and after him made it to his class. He collapsed in practically every game. He struck by turning, falling and sitting, left or right and with his head. Müller scored 68 times in just 62 games for Germany, a phenomenal rate of 1.1 hits per use.
The top ten of the Bundesliga all-time goalscorers list:
The only active player, Bayern’s Lewandowski, is highlighted in gray. Müller’s goal rate is better. table: wikipedia
Phenomenal hit rate
He scored the all-age goal at the end of his national team career, which ended too early. In the 1974 World Cup final, he scored 2-1 to the Netherlands at the Olympic Stadium in Munich.
So many strokes, but only one goal in his life: Gerd Müller won the 1974 World Cup final. Video: transmittable
Müller was European champion in 1972, he is also the most successful scorer in the German Bundesliga (365 goals in 427 games). From 1979 to 1982 his career ended in the United States.
“The club is everything to me”
The victory over his alcoholism in the early 1990s was probably the most important victory in the life of a trained weaver. «After four weeks I came out of the cure. Doing it in such a short time was quite an achievement, ”said Müller proudly in autumn 2007. At the time he was working as an assistant coach for Bayern fans alongside Hermann Gerland. World champions such as Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Müller and Toni Kroos benefited from his vast experience.
Promotional star: As a forward for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Müller feeds the dolphins in Florida. Image: www.imago-images.de
It was a task that the down-to-earth miller accomplished, made happy and satisfied. “The club is everything to me,” he said at the time. When Müller switched from TSV 1861 Nördlingen of the Swabian amateur league to Bayern in 1964 at the age of 18, his goals were rewarded with a base salary of 160 marks a month.
Müller and Uli Hoeness in 1974 with the pot with a handle. Later Hoeness helps his ex-teammate to stand up and gives him a job at Bayern and, therefore, stability. Image: imago sportphotodienst
He is not a man of great tones
Today they would give him millions of euros. But a life in profile in the days of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and the daily media hype would have been more of a horror than a blessing for Müller. Müller was a world star, but not because of the glamor and the red carpets.
“I’m not one of those who likes to be away from home,” the former scorer said when he was even better. On trips to the FC Bayern Champions League, he let his heart club use him as an attraction for high-level sponsors and fans. That was enough attention for him.
For Beckenbauer the most important player in the history of Bayern
For the club’s sponsor, Uli Hoeness, “Gerd” was always more than just a great footballer. Above all, he is “a good person.” Hoeness, who broke in alongside Müller in the great Bavarian days of the 1970s, was one of those who was there during the greatest crisis in the life of the successful sports professional.
Three of the greatest Bavarian legends: Gerd Müller, Sepp Maier and Franz Beckenbauer. Image: imago sportphotodienst
For Franz Beckenbauer, Müller is nothing less than the most important player in Munich’s history. “What FC Bayern represents today, with this palace on Säbener Strasse, without Gerd Müller people would still be in this wooden hut back then”, is a phrase with which Beckenbauer, who has just turned 75, like to describe the importance of Müller.
The day of his honor will be celebrated without major celebrations. Gerd Müller has Alzheimer’s disease and has lived in a nursing home for years. There they treat you professionally. His wife Uschi, to whom he has been married since 1967, described in the “Bild” on Monday that her husband was dying. Gerd sleeps towards the end. He has closed his eyes, is sleepy, rarely opens his mouth, and is given pureed food. He is calm and at peace, I don’t think he has to suffer either. “(Ram / sda / dpa)
