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**Karl** · December 9, 2012, 06:37 PM

Congrats to the little master!!!

btw - How many matches did Gerd Muller play in that record-breaking year? ...and Messi to date?

**Dunny** · December 9, 2012, 06:48 PM

Our tribute to Gerd Muller, the 'complete centre forward' whose goalscoring record Messi has just surpassed

By Jeff Powell
PUBLISHED:21:17, 9 December 2012| UPDATED:21:23, 9 December 2012

If Lionel Messi is the new Maradona then Gerd Muller was the German Jimmy Greaves.
Where Messi is the complete forward, able to play in any attacking position and create as well as finish moves, the man whose record for goals scored in a calendar year he is on the verge of breaking was a pure striker.
Like Greaves, Muller was the arch poacher but there was an added dimension to his game which built an astonishing career tally of goals which surpassed even the Spurs and England legend.
Scroll down for video of Muller in action

Clash of eras: Messi (top) has broken the record set by Bayern Munich and West Germany striker Gerd Muller set in 1972 (bottom)

It also gave Muller the World Cup fulfilment and the showcases of glittering prizes which eluded our Jimmy.
The key to his extraordinary facility in the penalty box was hidden in the first nickname bestowed upon him, a rather less flattering one than the pseudonym Der Bomber by which he was to become feted.
When he first appeared as a teenager for his home-town club Nordingen the coach referred to him as ‘The Short Fat Muller’ and the description stuck with him until he was bought by Bayern Munich.
Muller admitted to feeling insulted at first but came to understand that his somewhat stunted, stocky build was to be the making of him. In addition to the slide-rule precision with which Greaves ‘rolled the ball over the goal-line,’ Muller could score ugly.

Man for the big occasion: Muller scores against Holland in the 1974 World Cup final as West Germany came from behind to win

Final say: Muller celebrates scoring his second, West Germany's third, in the 1972 European Championship final with the Soviet Union in Brussels

That low centre of gravity and short turning circle enabled him to twist and contort himself into scoring from the most awkward and unlikely positions. A whole generation of world-class defenders despaired at the way Muller could squeeze the ball into the net when they were convinced they had him closed down.
One such hooked effort dealt the killer blow to England in the 1970 World Cup quarter-final, after Sir Alf Ramsey’s unwise substitution of Bobby Charlton freed Franz Beckenbauer, Der Kaiser, to launch the West German fight back from two down and into extra time.
The impossibility of containing Muller shines out at us from the statistics. He scored at the astounding ratio of more than a goal a game for Germany… 68 in 62 international appearances. He amassed 365 goals in 422 Bundesliga matches for Bayern and netted 66 times for his club in 74 games in European competition.

Red all over: Muller in action for his club, Bayern Munich, in 1976

Bavarian beast: Muller slots the ball through the legs of Hannover goalkeeper Horst Podlasly in a 1965 Bundesliga match which Bayern won 4-3

Given that deadliest of weapons at centre-forward, it was hardly surprising that Bayern stock-piled three European Cups, four Bundesliga titles and four German cups in the Muller era.
Even so, it is said that during one key game when they were under pressure the Kaiser asked the Bomber if he could lend a hand with the defending, to which Muller replied: ‘When you all join me in the goal-scoring I’ll come back and help you out.’
And so said Greaves, on more than one occasion when chastised about his low work-rate.
There is no denying that Messi, with his magical skill, electric acceleration and darting versatility, is the superior footballer. Yet on the grandest stage of all Muller remains his master, at least for the moment.
It took 32 years – and Ronaldo the Brazilian phenomenon – to surpass Muller’s old record of 14 goals in World Cup Final tournaments. There were two hat-tricks in Mexico ’70 – against Peru and Bulgaria – and after knocking out England he scored twice against Italy, only for West Germany to lose that semi-final 4-3.

Rising high: Muller scores the third and final West Germany goal against Australia in the 1974 World Cup group stages

Time to celebrate: Muller (left) with teammate Paul Breitner after West Germany won the 1974 World Cup in Munich

So the finest moment of all had to wait four years. When it came, it provided the perfect climax. Germany were the hosts in 1974 and Muller’s last goal for his country – in Munich – was the winner against Holland in the Final.
Messi has yet to deliver fully for Argentina in the World Cup, Perhaps his finest hour will come in Brazil 2014.
Greaves, who Muller most closely resembled, saw his Germany counterpart cement his legacy eight years after he was left out of the 1966 World Cup Final at Wembley….when he had to watch Geoff Hurst score his historic hat-trick.
But the parallel resumed after the Bomber retired. Like Greaves, Muller took heavily to drink to fill the void after football. Like Greaves, he eventually defeated those demons.

Euro star: Muller finds the net from an acute angle for Bayern Munich in the 1974 European Cup final replay against Atletico Madrid

On the ball: Muller in all-white for Bayern in a 1973 Bundesliga game

Beckenbauer was among the galaxy of Bayern team-mates who rallied round Muller in the depth of his crisis, persuading him to go into rehab and spending valuable time with him thereafter.
Unlike Spurs, Muller’s clubs were hugely supportive.
Nordingen re-named their stadium after him. Bayern, who have an admirable history of keeping their heroes involved after they hang up the boots, re-employed Muller as a coach.
He holds that position to this day….even though they all know that his genius for scoring goals is something that simply cannot be taught.
No more than any youngster can be told to go out and play like Messi.
Muller's goals at the World Cup

Tribute to Muller's ability

More...

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**Karl** · December 9, 2012, 08:04 PM

Thanks!

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Well done, the real MAESTRO

Well done, the real MAESTRO

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