Gerd Muller, the West German striker who scored the game-winning goal in the 1974 World Cup final, died at the age of 75.
Muller, regarded as one of the best players of his period, led West Germany to a European Championship triumph in 1972 and three times won the European Cup with Bayern Munich.
Muller died of Alzheimer’s disease on Sunday morning following a six-year fight.
His former club Bayern revealed the news with a statement that read: ‘FC Bayern are mourning the passing of Gerd Müller. The FC Bayern world is standing still today. The club and all its fans are mourning the death of Gerd Müller, who passed away on Sunday morning at the age of 75.’
FC Bayern are mourning the passing of Gerd Müller.
The FC Bayern world is standing still today. The club and all its fans are mourning the death of Gerd Müller, who passed away on Sunday morning at the age of 75.
— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) August 15, 2021
Muller, nicknamed ‘Der Bomber,’ scored 68 goals in 62 games for West Germany, including the game-winning goal against Holland in Munich’s Olympic Stadium in 1974. He scored 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games and 66 goals in 74 European games during his 15 years at Bayern. In 1970, he won the Ballon d’Or, among a host of other individual and collective awards and honours.
Bayern president Herbert Hainer told the club website: ‘Today is a sad, black day for FC Bayern and all of its fans. Gerd Muller was the greatest striker there has ever been – and a fine person, a personality in world football. We are united in deep sorrow with his wife Uschi and his family. Without Gerd Muller, FC Bayern would not be the club we all love today. His name and the memory of him will live on forever.’
Muller is ‘one of the greatest legends in the history of FC Bayern,’ according to Oliver Kahn, the club’s chief executive and a former Bayern and Germany goalkeeper.
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He added: ‘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 Muller 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.’
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