Legendary German forward Gerd Muller dies aged 75

Former Germany striker Gerd Muller has died at the age of 75 years. The legendary player scored a total of 68 goals in the 62 matches he played for West Germany. Muller also scored the winning goal against Holland in the 1974 World Cup as West Germany won by 2-1.

Muller also had a glorious career for Bayern Munich as he played for the club for 15 years. The talisman striker scored a total of 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games and 66 goals in 74 European matches.

Bayern president Herbert Hainer said in a statement: “Today is a sad, dark day for FC Bayern and all its fans. Gerd Müller was the greatest striker there’s ever been, and a fine person and character of world football. We’re all united in deep mourning with his wife Uschi as well as his family. FC Bayern wouldn’t be the club we all love today without Gerd Müller. His name and memory will live on forever.”

Meanwhile, Muller made his debut back in 1966 and had an average of more than one goal per match at the International level, which not a lot of players have. Gerd netted 10 goals in the 1970 World Cup but West Germany lost in the semifinal against Italy. Furthermore, Gerd Muller scored a total of eight hat-tricks for the national team.

Meanwhile, Miroslav Klose surpassed Muller’s tally of 68 goals in 2014 to Germany’s leading goal-scorer but the former took 132 games as compared to the latter’s 62 matches. In 2015, Bayern had announced that Gerd Muller had Alzheimer’s disease.

Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn also paid tribute: “The news of Gerd Müller’s death deeply saddens us all. He’s one of the greatest legends in the history of FC Bayern, his achievements are unrivalled to this day and will forever be a part of the great history of FC Bayern and all of German football. As a player and a person, Gerd Müller stands for FC Bayern and its development into one of the biggest clubs in the world like no other. Gerd will forever be in our hearts.”