Gerd Müller

Gerd Müller
Personal information
Full name	Gerhard Müller
Date of birth	3 November 1945 (1945-11-03) (age 63)
Place of birth	Nördlingen, Germany
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)[1]
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Bayern Munich II (Assistant Manager)
Youth clubs
1960-1963	TSV 1861 Nördlingen
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1963-1964 1964-1979 1979-1981	TSV 1861 Nördlingen FC Bayern Munich Fort Lauderdale Strikers Career	032 0(51) 453 (398) 080 0(40) 565 (489)
National team
1966 1966-1974	West Germany U-23 West Germany	001 00(1) 062 0(68)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (German, pronounced [ˈgɛʀt ˈmʏlɐ]; born 3 November 1945 in Nördlingen) is a former (West) German football player and one of the world's most prolific goalscorers of all time.

With national records of 68 goals in 62 international appearances, 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games and the international record of 66 goals in 74 European Club games, he was by far the most successful striker of his day. According to reliable and Professional Statistic institutions and FIFA only Pelé and Romário are higher on the all-time goalscorer ranking. His nicknames are “Bomber der Nation” (the nation's Bomber) and “kleines dickes Müller” (short fat Müller, declension intentionally wrong).

In 1970 Müller was elected European Footballer of the Year after a successful season at Bayern Munich and scoring 10 goals at the 1970 FIFA World Cup. Before the goal scored by Ronaldo against Ghana in the Round of 16 of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Müller held the all-time goal-scoring record in the tournament, with a 14-goal total.

Biography

Bayern Munich

Born in Nördlingen, Germany, he began his football career at the TSV 1861 Nördlingen. Müller joined FC Bayern Munich in 1964 where he teamed up with future stars Franz Beckenbauer and Sepp Maier. The club, which would go on to become the most successful German club in history was then still in the Regionalliga Süd (Regional League South), which was one level below the Bundesliga 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 60s and 70s: He won the German Championship four times, the German Cup four times, the European Champions' Cup three times, the Intercontinental Cup once, and the European Cup Winners’ Cup once. A supremely opportunistic goal-scorer, he also became German top scorer seven times and European top scorer twice. Müller scored 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga matches for Bayern Munich, almost 100 goals more than the second most successful Bundesliga scorer, Klaus Fischer. He holds the single-season Bundesliga record with 40 Goals in season 1971/72 . He scored 78 goals in 62 German Cup games. His 66 goals in his 74 appearances at European cups are still a record. He is also one of the very few players of 50 or more caps to score more goals than he has games played.

National team

Müller scored 68 goals in 62 games for West Germany. His international career started in 1966 and ended on 7 July, 1974 with the win of the World Cup at his home stadium in Munich. He scored the winning goal for the 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in the final. His four goals in that tournament and his ten goals at the 1970 FIFA World Cup combined made him the all-time highest FIFA World Cup goalscorer overall at the time with 14 goals; his record stood until the 2006 tournament, coincidentally held in Germany, when it was broken by Brazilian forward Ronaldo on 27 June 2006 playing against Ghana; As of the end of the 2006 tournament, Ronaldo has scored 15 goals in four World Cups. Müller also participated in the 1972 European Championship, becoming top scorer with four goals and winning the Championship with the German team.

International goals

Scores and results table. Germany's goal tally first:

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	8 April 1967	Dortmund, Germany	Albania	1-0	6-0	UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying
2.	8 April 1967	Dortmund, Germany	Albania	2-0	6-0	UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying
3.	8 April 1967	Dortmund, Germany	Albania	3-0	6-0	UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying
4.	8 April 1967	Dortmund, Germany	Albania	6-0	6-0	UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying
5.	27 September 1967	Berlin, Germany	France	4-0	5-1	Friendly
6.	7 October 1967	Hamburg, Germany	Yugoslavia	2-1	3-1	UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying
7.	13 October 1968	Vienna, Austria	Austria	1-0	2-0	FIFA World Cup 1970 qualifying
8.	23 November 1968	Nicosia, Cyprus	Cyprus	1-0	1-0	FIFA World Cup 1970 qualifying
9.	26 March 1969	Frankfurt, Germany	Wales	1-1	1-1	Friendly
10.	16 April 1969	Glasgow, Scotland	Scotland	1-0	1-1	FIFA World Cup 1970 qualifying
11.	10 May 1969	Nuremberg, Germany	Austria	1-0	1-0	FIFA World Cup 1970 qualifying
12.	21 May 1969	Essen, Germany	Cyprus	1-0	12-0	FIFA World Cup 1970 qualifying
13.	21 May 1969	Essen, Germany	Cyprus	7-0	12-0	FIFA World Cup 1970 qualifying
14.	21 May 1969	Essen, Germany	Cyprus	9-0	12-0	FIFA World Cup 1970 qualifying
15.	21 May 1969	Essen, Germany	Cyprus	12-0	12-0	FIFA World Cup 1970 qualifying
16.	21 September 1969	Vienna, Austria	Austria	1-1	1-1	Friendly
17.	22 October 1969	Hamburg, Germany	Scotland	2-1	3-2	FIFA World Cup 1970 qualifying
18.	3 June 1970	León, Mexico	Morocco	2-1	2-1	FIFA World Cup 1970
19.	7 June 1970	León, Mexico	Bulgaria	2-1	5-2	FIFA World Cup 1970
20.	7 June 1970	León, Mexico	Bulgaria	3-1	5-2	FIFA World Cup 1970
21.	7 June 1970	León, Mexico	Bulgaria	5-1	5-2	FIFA World Cup 1970
22.	10 June 1970	León, Mexico	Peru	1-0	3-1	FIFA World Cup 1970
23.	10 June 1970	León, Mexico	Peru	2-0	3-1	FIFA World Cup 1970
24.	10 June 1970	León, Mexico	Peru	3-0	3-1	FIFA World Cup 1970
25.	14 June 1970	León, Mexico	England	3-2	3-2 (a.e.t.)	FIFA World Cup 1970
26.	17 June 1970	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City	Italy	2-1	3-4 (a.e.t.)	FIFA World Cup 1970
27.	17 June 1970	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City	Italy	3-3	3-4 (a.e.t.)	FIFA World Cup 1970
28.	9 September 1970	Nuremberg, Germany	Hungary	2-0	3-1	Friendly
29.	9 September 1970	Nuremberg, Germany	Hungary	3-1	3-1	Friendly
30.	17 October 1970	Cologne, Germany	Turkey	1-1	1-1	UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying
31.	17 February 1971	Tirana, Albania	Albania	1-0	1-0	UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying
32.	25 April 1971	Istanbul, Turkey	Turkey	1-0	3-0	UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying
33.	25 April 1971	Istanbul, Turkey	Turkey	2-0	3-0	UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying
34.	22 June 1971	Oslo, Norway	Norway	2-0	7-1	Friendly
35.	22 June 1971	Oslo, Norway	Norway	4-0	7-1	Friendly
36.	22 June 1971	Oslo, Norway	Norway	5-0	7-1	Friendly
37.	30 June 1971	Copenhagen, Denmark	Denmark	1-1	3-1	Friendly
38.	8 September 1971	Hanover, Germany	Mexico	2-0	5-0	Friendly
39.	8 September 1971	Hanover, Germany	Mexico	3-0	5-0	Friendly
40.	8 September 1971	Hanover, Germany	Mexico	5-0	5-0	Friendly
41.	10 October 1971	Warsaw, Poland	Poland	1-1	3-1	UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying
42.	10 October 1971	Warsaw, Poland	Poland	2-1	3-1	UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying
43.	29 April 1972	London, England	England	3-1	3-1	UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying
44.	26 May 1972	Munich, Germany	USSR	1-0	4-1	Friendly
45.	26 May 1972	Munich, Germany	USSR	2-0	4-1	Friendly
46.	26 May 1972	Munich, Germany	USSR	3-0	4-1	Friendly
47.	26 May 1972	Munich, Germany	USSR	4-0	4-1	Friendly
48.	14 June 1972	Antwerp, Belgium	Belgium	1-0	2-1	UEFA Euro 1972
49.	14 June 1972	Antwerp, Belgium	Belgium	2-0	2-1	UEFA Euro 1972
50.	18 June 1972	Brussels, Belgium	USSR	1-0	3-0	UEFA Euro 1972
51.	18 June 1972	Brussels, Belgium	USSR	3-0	3-0	UEFA Euro 1972
52.	15 November 1972	Düsseldorf, Germany	Switzerland	1-0	5-1	Friendly
53.	15 November 1972	Düsseldorf, Germany	Switzerland	2-0	5-1	Friendly
54.	15 November 1972	Düsseldorf, Germany	Switzerland	3-0	5-1	Friendly
55.	15 November 1972	Düsseldorf, Germany	Switzerland	5-0	5-1	Friendly
56.	28 March 1973	Düsseldorf, Germany	Czechoslovakia	1-0	3-0	Friendly
57.	28 March 1973	Düsseldorf, Germany	Czechoslovakia	2-0	3-0	Friendly
58.	5 September 1973	Moscow, USSR	USSR	1-0	1-0	Friendly
59.	10 October 1973	Hanover, Germany	Austria	1-0	4-0	Friendly
60.	10 October 1973	Hanover, Germany	Austria	3-0	4-0	Friendly
61.	13 October 1973	Gelsenkirchen, Germany	France	1-0	2-1	Friendly
62.	13 October 1973	Gelsenkirchen, Germany	France	2-0	2-1	Friendly
63.	17 April 1974	Dortmund, Germany	Hungary	4-0	5-0	Friendly
64.	17 April 1974	Dortmund, Germany	Hungary	5-0	5-0	Friendly
65.	18 June 1974	Hamburg, Germany	Australia	3-0	3-0	FIFA World Cup 1974
66.	26 June 1974	Düsseldorf, Germany	Yugoslavia	2-0	2-0	FIFA World Cup 1974
67.	3 July 1974	Frankfurt, Germany	Poland	1-0	1-0	FIFA World Cup 1974
68.	7 July, 1974	Munich, Germany	Netherlands	2-1	2-1	FIFA World Cup 1974

Fort Lauderdale Strikers

After his career in the Bundesliga he went to the U.S., where he joined the Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the North American Soccer League in 1979. He played three seasons with this team, scoring 38 goals, and once reaching, but losing, the league final in 1980. He was a 2nd-team NASL All Star in 1979.

Life after football

After Müller ended his career in 1982, he fell into a slump and suffered from alcoholism. However, his former companions at Bayern Munich convinced him to go through alcohol rehabilitation. When he emerged, they gave him a job as a coach at Bayern Munich II, where he still works to this day. There is also a collection of apparel released by sporting giants Adidas under the Gerd Müller name. It is part of the adidas originals series. In July 2008, the Riesaer Sportpark, in Nördlingen, where Müller had began his career, was renamed the Gerd-Müller-Stadion in his honour.

Playing style

Müller was short, squat, awkward-looking and not notably fast; he never fit 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 strangely 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.

Honors

Titles with Bayern Munich

• Bundesliga: 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974
• German Cup: 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971
• European Champions’ Cup: 1974, 1975, 1976
• Intercontinental Cup: 1976
• Cup Winners’ Cup: 1967

Titles with the national team

• European Championship: 1972
• World Cup: 1974

Personal honours

• German top scorer: 1967, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1978
• European top scorer: 1970, 1972
• World Cup top scorer: 1970
• European Championship top scorer: 1972
• Eurochampionscup Topscorer 1973 ,1974 ,1975 ,1977
• German Footballer of the Year: 1967, 1969
• Voted best Player 40 Years Bundesliga 1963-2003
• European Footballer of the Year: 1970
• World Football's Greatest Goalscorer of All Time (awarded in 2000)

Career Statistics

References

External links

• Career stats at fussballdaten.de
• Portrait of Gerd Müller on the FIFA site
• Statistics on Müller's matches and goals

Preceded by Eusébio

FIFA World Cup Golden Shoe 1970

Succeeded by Grzegorz Lato

West Germany squad – 1970 FIFA World Cup Third Place 1 Maier • 2 Höttges • 3 Schnellinger • 4 Beckenbauer • 5 Schulz • 6 Weber • 7 Vogts • 8 Haller • 9 Seeler • 10 Held • 11 Fichtel • 12 Overath • 13 Müller • 14 Libuda • 15 Patzke • 16 Lorenz • 17 Löhr • 18 Sieloff • 19 Dietrich • 20 Grabowski • 21 Manglitz • 22 Wolter • Coach: Schön

West Germany squad - UEFA Euro 1972 Winners (1st title) GK Maier • GK Kleff • DF Beckenbauer • DF Bella • DF Breitner • DF Höttges • DF Schwarzenbeck • DF Vogts • MF Bonhof • MF Hoeneß • MF Köppel • MF Netzer • FW Grabowski • FW Heynckes • FW E. Kremers • FW Löhr • FW Müller • FW Wimmer • Coach: Schön

West Germany squad – 1974 FIFA World Cup Winners (2nd Title) 1 Maier • 2 Vogts • 3 Breitner • 4 Schwarzenbeck • 5 Beckenbauer • 6 Höttges • 7 Wimmer • 8 Cullmann • 9 Grabowski • 10 Netzer • 11 Heynckes • 12 Overath • 13 Müller • 14 Hoeneß • 15 Flohe • 16 Bonhof • 17 Hölzenbein • 18 Herzog • 19 Kapellmann • 20 H. Kremers • 21 Nigbur • 22 Kleff • Coach: Schön