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Top 10 Amazing Facts about Gerd M眉ller

Gerhard “Gerd” M眉ller (November 1945 鈥� August 2021) was a German professional footballer. A striker renowned for his clinical finishing, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalscorers in the history of the sport.

M眉ller began his career at TSV N枚rdlingen, scoring well over a goal a game in Germany鈥檚 lower divisions before joining Bayern in 1964 when the club was in the second tier.

Thirty鈥憈hree league goals in his first season helped to restore the club to the Bundesliga and within four years Bayern were German champions, a title they won four times in five years.

More impressive still was their stretch of three European Cup wins in a row, from 1974-76, to which M眉ller contributed 18 goals including three in the finals.

At the international level with West Germany, he scored 68 goals in 62 appearances, and at the club level, in 15 years with Bayern Munich in which he scored 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga matches, he became and still is a record holder of that league.

Read on to discover10 amazing facts about Gerd Muller.

 

 

1. Gerd Muller aka 鈥榙er Bomber鈥� was a Notorius Goal Poacher

 

The most notorious goal poacher of his generation and the World Cup鈥檚 all-time top scorer, Gerd M眉ller began his career in his birth town club in N枚rdlingen before moving to Bayern Munich as an 18-year old in 1964.

His career took off from there and M眉ller made his international debut in October 1966 against Turkey and quickly established himself in the team.

He was the epitome of the goalscoring craft and the leading force in the rise of Bayern Munich. Winning goals in World Cup and European Championship finals.

Scoring in consecutive winning European Cup Finals. And you can throw in one of the best nicknames in the history of football too.

It is no exaggeration to suggest that Bayern Munich would not have the status it has today without Der Bomber.

2. Gerd Muller鈥檚 Village did not Have a Pitch

Gerhard Muller grew up in the small village of Zinsen in Germany. Amazing fact; the village didn’t have a football pitch, so Muller would have to travel to the nearby town of Nordlingen just to play.

When he was 15 years old, Muller joined the TSV 1861 Nordlingen youth side. He was a new type of player. Struggling with weight problems, he never looked like he should be a sportsman, yet he had lightning-quick acceleration and despite being a small player, was a real threat in the air.

Three years later, however, in 1963, Muller signed for TSV 1861 Nordlingen’s first-team squad.

Despite still being a youngster, Muller quickly established himself as an important first-team player through his fantastic goal-scoring rate. He was a phenomenon inside the box, created scoring chances from nothing and scored almost all of those chances.

In his first year at TSV, he recorded a fantastic return of 51 goals in 32 games. In 1964, Bayern Munich made an offer for Muller

3. Gerd Muller held Record-breaking Goal Stats

Among amazing facts about Gerd Muller are the mind-boggling numbers from his immense career.

Bundesliga

No one has scored as many goals as Gerd Muller did in the Bundesliga. Not even close. He scored a remarkable 365 goals in just 427 matches. Behind him are Robert Lewandowski with 278 and Klaus Fischer with 268.

Muller scored 68 goals in 62 games for West Germany. That goals per game average of 1.09 is the third-best among players to have scored more than 50 goals in the history of international football (only Sandor Kocsis’ 75 in 68 with a gpg of 1.10 and Poul Nielsen’s 52 in 38 with a gpg of 1.37 are above him on that parameter)

Muller’s Bundesliga record of most goals in a season (40) stood for 48 years — until Robert Lewandowski broke it last season, with 41.

In his first year in the German top flight, he got 15 goals in 33 games, his worst career return. Over the next 14, he finished top scorer 7 times. No one has won the Bundesliga golden boot more often. In fact, he scored 30+ goals for 12 consecutive seasons. He was also the top scorer in the European Cup 4 times with Bayern.

World Cup

Muller is the last player to score 10 goals in a single World Cup (1970). Only two players have ever scored more – Just Fontaine (13, in 1958) and Sandor Kocsis (11, in 1954)

Muller scored 14 World Cup goals — a mark that stood as most all-time from 1974 to 2006 when Ronaldo (Nazario) overtook him. He’s now third in the all-time list behind Ronaldo (15) and Miroslav Klose (16).

4. Gerd Muller was an Important Player from FC Bayern Munich

“He’s the most important player in the history of FC Bayern” was how Franz Beckenbauer described his former teammate Gerd M眉ller. Der Bomber represented the club from 1964 to 1979, with his goals firing the Bavarians to countless titles.

He is still regarded as perhaps the greatest centre-forward football has ever seen.

But Franz 鈥楧er Kaiser鈥� Backenbauer himself points to Muller as the man who launched Bayern “into the international sphere” in which is finds itself today.

鈥淕erd is the origin. in my eyes, he鈥檚 the most important player in the history of FC Bayern. Gerd M眉ller was quite simply the greatest guarantee of goals in the history of football.”

How would the history of FC Bayern have turned out had Walter Fembeck not been so quick off the mark? The FCB general manager reached the M眉llers’ house in N枚rdlingen just one hour before local rivals 1860 Munich and convinced the 18-year-old Gerhard to sign for Bayern. His maiden campaign in red was the 1964/65 season.

5. His International Debut was in a Match vs Turkey

He started his international career on 12 October 1966 in Ankara versus Turkey. In his second match versus Albania, he scored the first four of his 68 goals in the national team.

He was a member of the 1970 FIFA World Cup team. With ten goals he was the best scorer in this tournament. In 1972 Germany won the European Championship and M眉ller was again the best scorer in this tournament.

In 1974 he won with Germany the FIFA World Cup where he scored the second goal in the 2:1 victory over the Netherlands. After this tournament, he resigned from the team.

6.  Gerd Muller Metamophorsed from 鈥楽hort, fat M眉ller鈥�

“Short, fat M眉ller” was how coach Zlakto ‘Cik’ Cajkovski called him as he initially featured for the reserves. But one-to-one training with the Yugoslavian coach helped M眉ller improve.

He quickly demonstrated his ability with the first team and helped Bayern to the Bundesliga promotion in 1965 with eight goals in the play-offs.

Stockily built Gerd M眉ller had a special talent for scoring. Today’s tribute is to one of the most prolific strikers of all time. His short, stocky frame enabled him to hold defenders off and turn on a sixpence

Virtually all his goals came from inside the penalty area and most of them out of nothing. Twisting and turning away from defenders and great positioning helped him score an incredible 68 goals in only 62 appearances for his country.

7.  Gerd Muller鈥檚 Zodiac sign is Scorpio

Gerd Muller’s zodiac sign is Scorpio. The dates of Scorpio are October 23 – November 21. Unfortunately, those born under the Scorpio zodiac sign are often misunderstood.

They are quite bold, with intense personalities and feelings that hide underneath their cool exterior.

They are capable people that can complete great and massive projects with control and confidence. They are passionate, driven, perceptive, emotional, sacrificing and determined. Although, they can be vindictive, paranoid, destructive, possessive, jealous, and clingy.

8. He was at his Element in the 1970 & 鈥�74 World Cup

The World Cup in Mexico 1970 saw 鈥淒er Bomber鈥� at his very best. Gerd M眉ller knocked in 10 goals in 6 matches including successive hat-tricks against Bulgaria and Peru.

It earned him the Golden Boot as top scorer and later a European Player of the Year Award, but there was no World Cup-winning medal to go with it. Italy won 4-3 鈥� despite two Gerd M眉ller goals 鈥� in a dramatic semifinal which went to extra time.

A winner鈥檚 medal was instead picked up in the following European Championship final in 1972 where West Germany convincingly beat the Soviet Union 3-0.

The most treasured chapter of Gerd M眉ller’s glorious career though was written in 1974. West Germany hosted and won the World Cup. M眉ller missed out on the topscorer title but made up for that by scoring the match-winning goal in the final against Holland with one of his typical finishes 鈥� his fourth in the tournament. It was a perfect ending to his international career.

9. Gerd Muller Finished his Career In the USA

After his career in the Bundesliga M眉ller went to the United States, where he joined the Fort Lauderdale Strikers (based in the Miami area) of the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1979. He played three seasons with this team, scoring 40 goals, and reaching, but losing, the league final in 1980.

He was intent on retiring from football after leaving Bayern but was convinced to have a spell in North America at Fort Lauderdale Strikers. Despite being past his prime, he still managed to average a goal every two games while in America.

After three years there, he hung up his boots for good.

10.  He Coached for his Former Club

Gerd鈥檚 somewhat premature exit from both club and international football saw him develop depression, which steered him into alcoholism and financial problems.

After years of being an alcoholic, Gerd鈥檚 former Bayern compatriots, Rummenigge, Hoeness, and Beckenbauer helped him get into rehabilitation.

After rehab, M眉ller secured a coaching license in 1991 where he proceeded to work as an assistant coach with some of Bayern Munich鈥檚 youth teams. In 2015 it became known that Muller was suffering from Alzheimer鈥檚 disease which caused his death.

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He remains, to this day, one of the most prolific strikers in football history, and perhaps the greatest goal-poacher ever. Certainly, very few can claim to be his peer inside the box. This has been a tribute to Gerd Muller.

Throughout his career, Muller had scored a remarkable 582 goals in 669 appearances, and his international record showed he could do it on the very highest stage.