German soccer legend, Strikers luminary, dies at 75
MUNICH — Gerd Mueller, the Bayern Munich and former West Germany soccer great known as “Der Bomber” for his scoring prowess who finished his career with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in 1981, has died. He was 75.
The Bavarian club announced his death on Sunday, with club president Herbert Hainer saying it was “a sad, dark day for FC Bayern and all its fans.”
Bayern announced in October 2015 that Mueller had Alzheimer’s disease for “a long time” and that he had been cared for professionally with the support of his family since the beginning of February that year.
After his career in the Bundesliga he went to the United States, where he joined the Strikers of the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1979 at age 33.
Playing in a league that was graced by past international standouts (Pele, Johan Cruyff, George Best, Eusebio, Franz Beckenbauer, among others), Mueller fit right in. Despite his short stature of 5 feet 9, he was equipped with powerful thighs (in excess of 25 inches in circumference) and was an immovable object in close quarters to the opposing goalie, firing in shortrange goals aplenty.
Playing three seasons in front of crowds at Fort Lauderdale’s Lockhart Stadium that often exceeded 18,000, the distinctly bearded Mueller piled up 40 goals, including 19 in 27 games in 1979.
In 1980, he helped lead the Strikers to the Soccer Bowl, where they lost to the New York Cosmos 3-0 in Washington, D.C.
Ray Hudson, a teammate of Mueller’s in the Strikers years, lauded the German on Twitter as “a footballer who knew the geometry & angles of the penalty box better than Archimedes”
While with the Strikers, Mueller had an ownership stake in The Ambry, the German-American restaurant located on Commercial Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale.
Mueller scored 566 goals for Bayern 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.
Mueller’s goals, scored in a variety of ways, helped earn Bayern promotion to the Bundesliga in 1965 and usher in a period of greatness at the club that laid the foundation for its success today.
“Gerd Müller was the greatest striker there’s ever been, and a fine person and character of world football,” Hainer said in a statement posted on the club’s website. “We’re all united in deep mourning with his wife Uschi as well as his family.”
Former West Germany forward Rudi Völler said it was “a sad day for soccer. Gerd’s performances will stay unforgettable.”
Tributes came from outside Germany, too.
“The best striker in history,” Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola said on Twitter.
Former England forward Gary Lineker said he “loved watching him as a child and learnt so much from doing so. The greatest penalty box goal scorer I’ve ever seen.”
Mueller made 607 competitive appearances for Bayern. He was the league’s top scorer on seven occasions. He was able to score goals as important to Bayern’s ascent to becoming Germany’s powerhouse as former teammates Beckenbauer and Uli Hoeneß.
Mueller’s record of 40 goals scored in the 1971-72 Bundesliga season was only beaten last season, when current Bayern forward Robert Lewandowski scored his 41st in the last minute of the last game.
Mueller 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.
Rainer Bonhof remembers setting up Mueller for that winning goal in Munich.
“I played the ball in from the right so hard that the ball came backwards off his foot. And then he fired the ball through a Dutch player’s legs and into the goal for 2-1. He was the only one who could do such a thing,” Bonhof told Monday’s edition of the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
Altogether Mueller 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.
“He was the best German forward of all time. Without him, FC Bayern and the German team would never have been able to take this successful path,” Bavarian state president Markus Söder said. “I myself was a big fan. All of Bavaria is mourning.”