Germany and Bayern Munich legend Gerd Muller dies aged 75

Gerd Muller: Bayern Munich's German legend dies aged 75

Bayern Munich and Germany legend Gerd Muller has died on Sunday. He was 75. Muller is one of European football’s greatest ever goalscorers, with 566 goals in all competitions over 15 years for Bayern. Nicknamed Der Bomber der Nation, Muller in 1972 scored 85 goals in only 60 matches for club and country a feat which was eclipsed by Lionel Messi (91 goals in 69) in 2012.

The Bavarian club announced his death on Sunday. “Gerd Mueller was the greatest striker there’s ever been, and a fine person and character of world football,” Bayern president Herbert Hainer said in a statement posted on the cub’s website. “We’re all united in deep mourning with his wife Uschi as well as his family.” Muller scored 14 goals at two World Cups. But the most famous of goals came in the 1974 World Cup final against the Netherlands. In the previous World Cup, Muller scored 10 goals to win the Golden Boot award and also the Ballon d’Or. 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. Muller, a two times German footballer of the year, won the Golden Boot for netting 10 goals at the 1970 World Cup and also won the Ballon d’Or that year. For German giants Bayern, Muller scored a record 365 goals in 427 league appearances in 15 years. His record of 40 goals in a Bundesliga season stood for 49 years until Robert Lewandowski broke it in May.

In total, Muller helped Bayern win four Bundesliga and DFB Cup titles, three European Cups, a European Cup Winners’ Cup and an Intercontinental Cup. In 2015, the club announced he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.