Bayern’s record goal machine
Gerd Müller Footballer BORN NOVEMBER 3, 1945 - DIED AUGUST 15, 2021, AGED 75
REGARDED as one of the greatest strikers of his generation, Gerd Müller’s prolific goal tally earned him the nickname “Der Bomber”.
TheWest Germany and Bayern Munich hitman netted 68 goals in 62 international games, and 14 goals atWorld Cup finals – a record only surpassed in 2006 by Brazil’s Ronaldo and Germany’s Miroslav Klose in 2014.
He scored the winning goal for West Germany in the 1974World Cup final against the Netherlands, four years after his extra-time volley sent England home from the World Cup in Mexico in the quarter-finals.
He scored 40 Bundesliga goals for Bayern in the 1971-72 season and 85 goals in a calendar year in 1972 – records only recently broken by Robert Lewandowski and Lionel Messi respectively.
During his 15-year Bayern career he notched 547 goals in 594 competitive games.The club’s president Herbert Hainer said: “Gerd Müller was the greatest striker there has ever been. Without him, FC Bayern would not be the club we all love today.”
He was born Gerhard Müller in Nördlingen, Bavaria, a territory occupied by the Allies following the Second World War.
The youngest of five children, he left school aged 14 to become an apprentice weaver.
He played in youth football and turned professional at 17, joining Bayern Munich.
With his club he won four Bundesliga titles, four German Cups and three European Cups. He retired from international football in 1974 but played for Bayern until 1979 and later Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the US.
He announced his retirement in 1982 and was plagued by alcoholism in later life. In 2015 it was revealed he was suffering from Alzheimer’s. He is survived by his wife Uschi and daughter Nicole.