Gerd Muller West Germany Date of Birth: 03/11/1945 Caps: 62 Goals: 68 All Time Global Goal Rating: 14512

Gerd Muller was perhaps the closest to a goalscoring machine that there has ever been in international football. He churned out goal after goal, his record in both club and international football is absoloutely staggering.

He began his club career at Nordlingen in 1963/4, immediately served notice of his phenomenal talent scoring 46 goals in only 31 games, the following season he moved to Bayern Munich, nowadays the club is indisputably the biggest in Germany, but then the Bavarian club were not even in the Bundesliga, this was quickly rectified when Bayern gained promotion to the Bundesliga in 1964/5 helped by Muller's 35 goals in 32 league matches. The next three seasons Bayern finished in the top six on each occasion, Muller's reputation continued to grow as he displayed his finishing prowess. The 1968/69 campaign was a historic one for Bayern as they claimed the Bundesliga, Muller enjoyed a tremendous season scoring 31 goals in 30 league matches. He fared even better the following year, notching 38 goals in 33 games, though incredibly Bayern only managed the runners up position. It was the same story for Munich the next season but they recaptured the title in 1971/2, Muller enjoying his best ever season with 40 goals in 34 matches, the most by any player in the German league and one of 7 times he was the Bundesliga Torschtzenkonig (goal king).

Two more league titles followed in successive seasons with Muller supplying close to a goal a game return. Bayern were by now one of the strongest club sides in Europe and captured the European Cup in 1974, beating Atletico Madrid 4-0, Muller rates the goal he scored to make it 2-0 his finest ever. Bayern won the European Cup again in 1975 beating Leeds United 2-0, Muller again on target and in 1976 defeated St Etienne 1-0, Muller scored 66 goals in 74 European club matches. However the team was in decline, though incredibly this did not affect Muller's strikerate hugely and he continued to score freely and when Bayern finished the 1977/78 season in 12th position it was clear it was the end of an era, Muller's final season was in 1978/9, he finished with 365 goals in 427 league matches. He had a couple of seasons in America with Fort Lauderdale Strikers before finally calling time on an incredible career.

Muller actually retired from international football after scoring the winning goal in the 1974 World Cup Final against Holland. He had made his international debut in 1966 against Turkey and didn't have to wait long before scoring his first goal, which he got against Albania, one of four he scored in the match. However it was the 1970 World Cup Finals when Muller really announced himself on the international stage when he finished the tournament as the leading scorer with 10 goals. West Germany eased into the quarter finals to play England, who went into a 2-0 lead but in one of the most dramatic comebacks ever seen, the Germans clawed their way back to level the game and then win the match in extra time, Muller scoring the winner. Incredibly the semi final against Italy was an even more unforgettable match, with West Germany losing out 4-3 in extra time, despite two goals from Muller in the extra 30 minutes, who now remembers the game as one of the most painful defeats he ever endured. In 1972 West Germany won the European Championship for the first time beating the Soviet Union 3-0 in Brussels, Muller opening and closing the scoring.

However it was the 1974 World Cup which defined the careers of many great German players, Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier and of course Muller. West Germany who were hosting the World Cup qualified from their group despite losing 1-0 to East Germany, the hosts then defeated Yugoslavia and Sweden before edging out Poland 1-0 with a Muller goal in a match which ensured they qualified for the final and a meeting with the brilliant Dutch team. The final had the most incredible of starts when Johan Neeskens scored for Holland from the penalty spot after a minute, Paul Breitner equalised also with a penalty and then Muller with a trademark finish just before half time put West Germany ahead, a lead they held on to despite great pressure from the Dutch in the second half. It was Muller's final match for West Germany and he finished with the most remarkable of records, 68 goals from 62 internationals, truly a legendary goalscorer.