Gerd Müller is undeniably one of the greatest strikers to grace both German and international football. Nicknamed "Der bomber", Gerd was especially famous for his fascinating ability to turn at lightning sped while handling the ball, not to mention his impeccable score sheet.
Biography:
Gerhard Müller was born on November 3, 1945, in Nördlingen, Germany. The names of his parents are unknown and there are few known facts about his early life. In the beginning, Gerd Müller played for his boyhood team where he bagged 52 goals in the 5th division. He continued displaying his exceptional football skills as a schoolboy footballer, when he netted 180 goals(!) in one season (1963-64) for the youth division of the TSV 1861 Nördlingen club.
This achievement did not go unnoticed as the soccer powerhouses of the time, Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 Munich, both wanted to sign him. He decided against joining 1860 Munich because it had many superstars in the team. Instead he chose Bayern Munich as a strategic move to secure a spot in the team’s starting 11. He joined Bayern in 1964. At the time, the team was languishing in the second division.
In his first season at Bayern, Gerd scored 33 goals for his team and helped elevate it into the Bundesliga in 1965. With Müller in the team, Bayern Munich captured the German Cup in its first season. The team later won the Cup three more times (1967, 1969, and 1971) during Müller’s tenure. Bayern also won the Bundesliga title 4 times in the 1968–69, 1971–72, 1972–73, and 1973–74 seasons. Müller scored 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga matches, still a record that will be hard to beat.
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Stats:
With 1,251 goals in 998 games for Bayern, and 68 in 62 for Germany, Gerd Müller is as worthy of a legend status as it gets, even before considering the string of records he set in a hitherto unrivaled career.
Facts:
1. Gerd Muller aka ‘der Bomber’ was a Notorius Goal Poacher
2. Gerd Muller’s Village did not Have a Pitch
3. Gerd Muller held Record-breaking Goal Stats
4. Gerd Muller Metamorphosed from ‘Short, fat Müller’
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Achievements:
He had scored 68 goals in 62 international matches. This translated to an average of 1.1 goals per contest, a very remarkable record. In 1970, Gerd became the first German to earn the prestigious European Footballer of the Year award. He was also named West German Footballer of the Year in 1967, and 1969. During his 14-year stay at Bayern Munich, Müller helped his team secure three UEFA Champions League titles, four Bundesliga titles and four German Cups.
The team also won the European Cup Winners' Cup and one Intercontinental Cup. During the same 14-year stint, Gerd scored a total of 566 goals in 607 appearances. One of Gerd's greatest achievements was setting a record for the highest number of goals in a calendar year, when he scored 85 goals in all competitions, in 1972. He held onto the record for 40 years before Lionel Messi broke it in 2012 when he scored 92 goals.
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