Name : Gerd Muller
Date of Birth: 3 November 1945
Birthplace:
Nordlingen, Germany
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¡°The Bomber¡± wrote records for eternity
Not only is the name Gerhard ¡°Gerd¡± M¨¹ller still synonymous with the model
striker par excellence, but ¡°The Bomber's¡± remarkable records still remain
unchallenged today. The Bayern M¨¹nchen and Germany centre forward scored 365
goals in 427 Bundesliga appearances and 68 goals in 62 international
appearances, milestones no other player is ever likely to equal. And all that
despite singing ¡°A football game is far from easy, goals never come cheaply,¡± in
his brief, and regrettable, foray into the world of popular music with ¡°Dann
macht es bumm!¡±
Nevertheless, at the dusk of his illustrious striking career, M¨¹ller could
look back on a plethora of special goals. ¡°My most important was certainly the
goal that put us up 2-1 in the 1974 FIFA World CupTM Final in M¨¹nchen,¡± M¨¹ller
said recently in his native N?rdlingen dialect. The golden era for the German
top flight and national team during the early to mid-1970s would have been
unthinkable without M¨¹ller, as former team-mate Franz Beckenbauer is quick to
underscore: ¡°Everything that FC Bayern has become is due to Gerd M¨¹ller and his
goals.¡±
The powerlifter who built Bayern
When M¨¹ller was signed by then second
division outfit Bayern M¨¹nchen in 1964, club coach Zlatko ¡°Tschik¡± Cajkovski
initially mocked the striker¡¯s odd build, quipping: ¡°What am I supposed to do
with a weightlifter?¡± Indeed, M¨¹ller¡¯s short legs in relation to his barrel-like
upper body, and massive 64-centimetre-around thighs did rather lend him the
appearance of an Eastern European powerlifter.
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However, the small, stocky striker, who began his career at the age of nine
in his hometown of N?rdlingen, around one and a half hours by car from M¨¹nchen,
would enjoy a meteoric rise to the top. By the time he was 16, M¨¹ller had
progressed through a variety of school and junior teams and the youth ranks of
TSV Nordlingen. In 1962/1963, he scored an unbelievable 180 goals for his club,
attributing his strength to his mother's potato salad.
Under Cajkovski,
M¨¹ller was forced to languish on the bench for ten games before the coach
relented to the pressure of then Bayern President, Wilhelm Neudecker, and
introduced the young striker into the team. On his league debut, in October
1964, M¨¹ller scored twice against FC Freiburg, laying the foundation for an
outstanding career. Cajkovski even began referring to him more affectionately as
¡°short, fat M¨¹ller.¡±
In 1965, M¨¹ller, Sepp Maier and Franz Beckenbauer, the trio who would later
earn Bayern global recognition, inspired the club to promotion to the
Bundesliga. The club finished third in their first season in the top-flight and
lifted the DFB Cup, a feat they would repeat in 1967, 1969 and 1971. Bayern
M¨¹nchen became German champions for the first time in 1969 before claiming a hat
trick of titles in 1972, 1973 and 1974. The M¨¹nchen club also won their first
international honour in the European Cup Winners¡¯ Cup in 1967. The dream team
then went on to win the European Champions Cup three times in succession from
1974 to 1976, crowning the incredible run of success with a World Club Cup
triumph.
Without Gerd M¨¹ller, this glorious era would have been inconceivable. M¨¹ller
was the club's top scorer every year from 1964/1965 to 1977/1978, and seven-time
Bundesliga top-scorer (1967, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1978). In 1971/1972
he netted 40 goals, a threshold no other player has reached since.
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German
marksman
It was only a matter of time before the prolific striker came to
the attention of national coach Helmut Sch?n. M¨¹ller made his senior
international debut in 1966 in a 2-0 away win against Turkey. At the 1970 FIFA
World Cup? in Mexico, he won the Golden Boot with 10 goals and forged a
formidable strike partnership with Uwe Seeler. M¨¹ller still underlines the
significance of the tournament today: ¡°That tournament was even more important
for me than 1974. We had an outstanding team then, even if many consider our
1972 European Championship team to be the best.¡±
The marksman celebrated
European Championship glory in 1972 after Germany overcame Russia in the final,
before going on to score the incredible winning goal in the Germany 74 final
victory over the Netherlands. M¨¹ller recalls: ¡°The ball came into the area from
Rainer Bonhof. I ran forward with two Dutch players then checked back because
the pass was behind me. The ball jumped off my left foot, I turned a little and
suddenly it was in,¡± he beams, recreating the scene that unfolded in the 43rd
minute in M¨¹nchen¡¯s Olympiastadion.
M¨¹ller announced his retirement from international football after becoming a
world champion at the age of 28. The story has always circulated that this was
in response to the players¡¯ wives being banned from the celebratory banquet
after the FIFA World Cup final. However, M¨¹ller is happy to clarify the matter:
¡°I told coach Sch?n three days before the final that I was retiring. He asked me
to hold back on making the announcement until after the match. That was it.
There was nothing else.¡± Although as a backdrop, M¨¹ller described the low
bonuses offered by the DFB for FIFA World Cup victory as ¡°laughable.¡±
Highs and lows
M¨¹ller accepted a lucrative contract to play in the USA
in 1979, where he aimed to carve out a second career after Bayern coach Pal
Csernai informed him he was no longer in his plans and began substituting him
for the first time in his career. It was the first time M¨¹ller had ever been
sold. On 6 March 1979, M¨¹ller signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Fort
Lauderdale Strikers, a professional club in the North American Soccer League
(NASL).
[AFP] |
With his playing career over, M¨¹ller descended into deep crisis. The
transition from the pinnacle of popularity to everyday life did not come easy to
him. Beside the occasional autograph signing or celebrity match, M¨¹ller did not
know how to occupy himself if he was not sat in front of the television for
hours on end or arguing with his wife. His drinking worsened. ¡°I ruined my
life,¡± M¨¹ller now admits.
But fortunately, his friends from Bayern
M¨¹nchen, notably coach Uli Hoene?, helped him to get back on his feet. He was
then offered a contract by his former club in 1992; initially to look after
sponsors, scout for talent and coach strikers and goalkeepers. Later he became a
youth coach and first team assistant coach. M¨¹ller also acquired his ¡®A¡¯
coaching badge in 1992 and became head coach of the Bayern amateur team in the
regional league in 1995/96. Today, he is in full control of his life and has
found contentment: ¡°It does not get any better than being at Bayern.¡±
At the 40th anniversary celebration of the Bundesliga in August 2003, M¨¹ller
was honoured as an outstanding sporting personality in Bundesliga history. More
than a thousand invited guests in K?ln¡¯s Coloneum rose to their feet, and
applauded to pay homage to the man who made such a defining contribution to
German football history.
The honour sits alongside numerous other instances of recognition the striker
accumulated in his career. He was first voted German Player of the Year as a 21
year old in 1967, before recapturing the title two years later. In 1970, he
became the first German to be crowned European Player of the Year after winning
the 1970 FIFA World Cup? golden boot. Three appearances in FIFA Select XIs
(1971, 1972, 1973) and one nomination in a UEFA Select XI (1973) were further
proof of his exceptional status. Alongside his sporting awards, M¨¹ller also
received the Silver Bay Leaf in 1967 and the Federal Cross of Merit in 1977. In
May 1998, he was awarded the FIFA Order of Merit. M¨¹ller represents the city of
M¨¹nchen as one of the twelve ambassadors for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany?.
Playing Career
International honours
62 International appearances, 68 goals 1974 FIFA World Cup Germany Champion
1970 FIFA World Cup Mexico third place European Championship winner: 1972 1970
FIFA World Cup Golden Boot (10 goals) FIFA World Cup all-time leading scorer (14
goals) Clubs
1955 - 1964 TSV N?rdlingen 1964 - 1979 Bayern M¨¹nchen 1979 - 1981 Fort
Lauderdale Strikers 1981 - 1982 Smith Brothers Lounge Club honours
1969, 1972, 1973, 1974 German Champion 1974, 1975, 1976 European Cup Champion
427 Bundesliga appearances, 365 Bundesliga goals (record) 74 European Cup
appearances, 66 goals 7-time Bundesliga top scorer -- 1967 (28 goals), 1969
(30), 1970 (38), 1972 (40), 1973 (36), 1974 (30), 1978 (24)
Management
Career
Clubs
1992 - present Youth and amateur coach at Bayern M¨¹nchen
