Obviously, it was Bayern Munich, a club hoisted by Müller to the top of Europe on three occasions (1974, 1975 and 1976), which announced the news on Sunday, mourning a striker who "
wrote history.
», In club as in selection. “
It's a sad and dark day for Bayern and all their fans. Gerd Müller was the greatest striker there has ever been, a figure in world football
, ”Bavarian club president Herbert Hainer said in a statement. In parallel, the website of the Bavarian club had displayed the colors black and white, as a sign of mourning, just like its logo on social networks.
Affected by Alzheimer's disease since February 2015, a disease made public by Bayern a few months later, Müller was recently accommodated in a specialized establishment, his only recent positions having come from his wife. For his 75th birthday (November 3, 2020), his wife Uschi had given a moving interview, modestly describing the "
slow slide towards the beyond
" of her husband, victim of Alzheimer's disease. "
It's almost 24 hours a day in bed, he only has rare moments of awakening,
" she said, "
it's beautiful when he opens his eyes a little. Sometimes he manages to say yes or no by moving an eyelash (...) he's calm and peaceful, I don't think he's in pain
”.Assuring that her husband "
would not complain
”of losing his record for goals scored in a Bundesliga season.
"
Gerd Müller was the best center forward of all time
"
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
A sign of fate, this historic mark of 40 goals scored in 1971/72 fell at the end of May 2021, the work of the Pole Robert Lewandowski, star center forward of the “
Rekordmeister
”. On Instagram, the latter quickly paid tribute to his predecessor, posting a photo of Müller, accompanied by a symbol of prayer, hands joined. The football world had not waited for his death to bow down to this stocky and incredibly lively, medium height player (1.76 m), who also won the Euro in 1972 with the fabulous team of goalkeeper Sepp Maier, another sacred beast. For Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, one of his Ballon d'Or successors and current Bayern boss, "
Gerd Müller was the best center-forward of all time
." "
A striker like we will never see again in modern football,
”added Joachim Löw, the 2014 world champion national coach.
After the 1974 World Cup, the “
Bombardier of the Nation
” had decided at the age of only 28 to put an end to his international career, believing that a world champion title offered him the most beautiful of outings. But he continued to make Bayern Munich happy until 1979, with whom he won, in addition to his three C1, four German league titles (1969, 1972, 1973, 1974), four national cups, one European Cup Winners' Cup and a Club World Cup. But after a last adventure in the United States (1979-1981), where he played for Fort Lauderdale, Müller sank into alcohol and depression as soon as he retired from sports. He was saved by his friend and ex-teammate Uli Hoeness, who offered to return to Bayern Munich to coach thereserve team.
Müller has scored over 700 goals in his career but a few have made it history.
A double in the final of the Euro-1972 against the USSR (3-0) and, above all, this pivotal shot in the area two years later, in the final of the World-1974, on his favorite lawn in Munich: the 2-1 German triumph against Dutch favorites Johan Cruyff.
This goal, "
the most important
" of his career, he said, was also the 68th and last registered in 62 caps and the 14th in as many World Cup finals matches (1970, 1974).
“
Der Bomber der Nation
” honored
Müller "
is one of Bayern's greatest legends, his performances remain unmatched to this day and will forever be a part of the great history of Bayern and German football
," said former Nationalmannschaft goalkeeper Oliver Kahn , currently manager at the Munich club. Germany will long remember this vivacious striker, excellent in anticipation, explosive although tough or even "
short on legs
", and with exceptional statistics.
"
I am convinced that people will still be talking about him in a hundred years,
" said his great friend Franz Beckenbauer in November 2020, with whom he was world champion in 1974 and three times European club champion from 1974 to 1976. The “
Kaiser Franz
”, whom the Germans consider to be the greatest player in their history, even showed humility in the face of the talent of his ex-teammate: “
In my eyes, he is the most important player in history. Bayern, he said, it is thanks to his goals that the club reached the international level where it still evolves
. 68 goals in 62 caps for the white jersey of West Germany (FRG)!
In 607 matches played in the Bavarian jersey, he will have scored 566 goals, including 365 in the German Championship, a record that still stands. But beyond Bavaria, where he won three Champion Clubs' Cups and four German league titles in particular, it is within the national team that Müller wrote his legend, that of the imperturbable FRG of the 1970s, crowned during the Euro-1972 and the World Cup-1974, after third place in the 1970 World Cup.
Competitions on which he will have left his mark, scoring 14 goals in two Worlds (record which held until in 2006, beaten by the Brazilian Ronaldo with 15 goals, then by the German Miroslav Klose in 2014 with 16 goals), and illuminating the final of Euro-1972 with a double in Brussels against the USSR (3-0). Germany, then crowned on multiple occasions in major competition, had then won only one major title (World Cup 1954), which earned Müller the nickname "
Bomber der Nation
", the "
bomber of the nation
”.
In a short statement posted on Twitter, the German national team paid tribute to its Bomber. “
The DFB (Federation) mourns one of the greatest German footballers of all time. Rest in peace Gerd Müller. Our hearts go out to his wife and family,
”said the Federation.
