Goodbye, Muller! Football bids adieu to German great

Munich, August 16

Tributes continue to pour in for Gerd Muller, the Germany football great known as ‘Der Bomber’ who died at age 75 on Sunday. At the German Bundesliga matches on Sunday, supporters and players paid their respects to Muller with a minute’s silence in Mainz and a minute’s applause in Cologne.

Muller scored 566 goals for Bayern Munich between 1964 and 1979, helping the team to four German titles, four German Cup wins and three European Cup victories in that time. He still holds the record for the most goals scored in the Bundesliga with 365, scored in 427 league games.

Muller has long been regarded as one of the greatest goal-scorers ever to grace football, and he leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of goals and trophies at the highest level. He stands alongside Pele, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as one of only seven male players to have scored more than 700 career goals for club and country. Messi beat Mueller’s 40-year-old record of 85 goals in a calendar year in 2012.

Muller also helped West Germany win the European Championship in 1972, then the World Cup two years later, when he scored the winning goal in the final against the Netherlands. He scored 68 goals in 62 appearances for West Germany. It was a national record only surpassed in 2014 by Miroslav Klose, who needed 129 appearances to match him.

Born on 3 November 1945, Muller joined Bayern in 1964. With his short stature and stocky build he was nicknamed “short, fat Muller” by his first coach at the club, Zlatko Cajkovski. Muller retired in 1981, after a spell in the United States with NASL side Fort Lauderdale Strikers.

Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn paid rich tributes to Mueller. “He’s one of the greatest legends in the history of Bayern, his achievements are unmatched to this day and will forever be part of the great history of Bayern and all of German football,” Kahn said.

“A true Legend not only for Bayern and Germany but also for football,” said celebrated coach Pep Guardiola. “The best striker in history. My condolences to his family and friends and Bayern fans.”

“Very sorry to hear that Gerd Muller has passed away. Loved watching him as a child and learnt so much from doing so. The greatest penalty box goal scorer I’ve ever seen,” said Gary Linekar, the top goal-scorer at the 1986 World Cup. — Agencies

Amazing numbers

365 With 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga matches, he is the record scorer in Bundesliga history

40 He scored 40 goals in 1971-72, a Bundesliga record which was broken last season by Robert Lewandowski (41)

16 In the 1969-70 season, he scored in 16 successive Bundesliga matches, a mark still unbroken

7 He was the top scorer in seven Bundesliga seasons, also a record