Bombardier of the nation: legendary footballer Gerd Müller dies at the age of 76

"His name and his memory will live forever"

On August 15, sad news shook the football world.

The press service of "Bayern" said that on Sunday morning the legend of the Munich club and its top scorer Gerd Müller left this world.

In recent years, he suffered from Alzheimer's disease and was in a nursing home, where his wife Usha regularly visited him.

The tragic event was commented on by the top officials of the Munich team.

According to the president of FC Bayern, Herbert Heiner, today has become "sad and gloomy" for both the team and all its fans.

“Gerd Müller was the greatest striker ever to hit the pitch, a great man and a spokesman for world football.

We grieve together with his wife Usha and his family.

Without Gerd Müller, Bayern would not have been the club we all love so much today.

His name and his memory will live on forever, ”Heiner said in a statement posted on the website of the 31-time Bundesliga winner.

Another legendary Bayern footballer expressed his condolences on the death of Müller.

In the past, the goalkeeper, and now the chairman of the club, Oliver Kahn admitted that the news of the death of the striker "touched everyone."

“He is one of the greatest legends in Bayern history, his achievements are unmatched to this day and will forever remain a part of the great history of Bayern and all German football.

As a player and as a person, Gerd Müller, more than anyone else, symbolizes Bayern Munich and their development as one of the best clubs in the world.

Gerd will forever remain in our hearts, ”said Kahn.

Representatives of other German clubs also reacted to the news of Mueller's death.

So, the general director of Borussia Dortmund, Hans-Joakim Watzke, admitted that Gerd was one of the greatest idols of his childhood and youth, and it was a great honor to get to know him.

In turn, the sports director of the Leverkusen Bayer Rudy Völler called the ex-Munich footballer one of the greatest scorers of all time in the history of football and a role model.

Also on the sad news from the camp of "Bavaria" reacted and in the largest European clubs in Europe.

Their condolences to the family and friends of Muller were expressed in Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Manchester United, Inter.

The former England striker Gary Lineker also spoke out.

“I am very saddened by the news of Gerd Müller's death.

As a child, I loved to follow his game and thanks to this I learned a lot from him.

He's the greatest box-scorer I've ever seen, ”Lineker tweeted.

Top scorer in Bundesliga history and Bayern legend

Gerd Müller was born on November 3, 1945 in Nördlingen, and his career in professional football began at the local amateur club TSV 1861. In it, the striker made his debut at less than 15 years old and spent a total of four years - three in the youth team and one in the adult team, but very quickly proved that he was capable of more. Last season, he scored 51 goals in 31 games and helped the squad climb to Landesliga from Bezirksliga, earning him the attention of Bayern Munich. According to Bild, his transfer cost 5,000 German marks, and the salary at the new location was 160 marks a month.

Mueller's arrival was in many ways the starting point for Bayern's ascent to the pinnacle of German football. The club already had such talented players as defender Franz Beckenbauer and goalkeeper Sepp Mayer, but played in the regional championship. However, over the next two seasons, Munich not only advanced to the Bundesliga, but also took third place there in the championship, along the way winning the German Cup (the first of four in the era of Gerd). The striker himself immediately scored 15 goals - the most in the team, but he shared only 10th place in the list of the league's top scorers.

However, in the next season, Müller corrected this misunderstanding and distinguished himself 28 times, removing all questions in the fight for the title of the best scorer of the national championship. Subsequently, he won this title six more times, and in the 1971/72 championship he did 40 goals and set a league record. It is noteworthy that he remained impregnable for 49 years until he was beaten by Robert Lewandowski.

Gerd did not stand out either for physical data (his height was 176 centimeters), or speed qualities, but he was a born master of playing in the penalty area. An incredible sense of the moment and the ability to "peel off" from the defender and allowed him to chalk up 365 goals - and this is only in the Bundesliga. Müller still holds the record for the most goals scored in the German national championship and is unlikely to be surpassed in the foreseeable future. Now the closest pursuer of the great German is the same Lewandowski (278). But it will be extremely difficult for the 32-year-old Pole to play such a handicap.

Largely thanks to Müller, Bayern managed to interrupt a losing streak in the Bundesliga and subsequently win three more trophies. In parallel with this, the Munich team began to gain weight in Europe. In 1967, he won his first international trophy, the Cup Winners' Cup, beating the Scottish Rangers in the final, and from 1974 to 1976 he won the European Cup three times in a row. The Spanish “Atletico”, the English “Leeds” and the French “Saint-Etienne” were beaten in turn, and Gerd became the author of one of the goals against the British team.

And although in the decisive meetings of international club tournaments, Müller was not so productive, but in general he was a real threat for opponents.

During his career, he became the top scorer of the European Cup three times, and subsequently, until 2011, held the lead in the number of goals in European competitions (65).

The first to beat the German was the legendary striker of Real Madrid and Schalke, Raul.

As for the performances at the national team level, Müller's career in the Bundesmennschaft turned out, although not the longest, but very bright.

He made his debut for her in a test match with Turkey in 1966 and subsequently entered the field 61 more times.

As part of the national team, his bombing qualities did not fade at all, which helped him to distinguish himself 68 times and set a record for many years.

He also failed to become eternal - at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, he was beaten by Miroslav Klose.

However, this is largely due to the fact that Mueller himself stopped playing in the national team extremely prematurely.

In 1974 he announced his retirement.

By this time, Müller had already become the world and European champion, as well as the bronze medalist of the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.

At that tournament, the German goalscorer chalked up ten goals, which later helped him become the winner of the Golden Ball award - the first and only time in his career.

At the victorious European and world championships for the German national team, he distinguished himself four times.

But if in the first case this was enough to become the top scorer of the tournament, then in the second it was not.

Nevertheless, in both championships, Müller excelled in the final.

In 1972, he scored a double against the USSR team (3: 0), and two years later he scored the winning goal for the Netherlands (2: 1).

The last years of his career Mueller spent in the American "Fort Lauderdale Strikers", in which he was forced to leave due to a conflict with the mentor of "Bayern" Palem Cernay.

It was in the USA that the German began to experience problems with alcohol, but with the help of his wife and former partners in FC Hollywood, he nevertheless coped with them.

In 1992, he returned to his homeland and took up the position of assistant head coach of the Munich youth team, where he stayed until 2014.

Alzheimer's disease prevented him from performing his duties. She was officially diagnosed only in 2015, but there were rumors about it three years earlier. Müller ended up in a nursing home, where he spent the remaining six years.