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#3 Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Anton Beckenbauer was born in Munich, Germany, in 1945. Over the course of his career, Beckenbauer earned the monicker 'Der Kaiser' or 'The King' for his playing style and leadership qualities.
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Beckenbauer began his career at Bayern Munich's youth academy, and later joined the senior team after signing his first professional contract in 1964. With the Bavarian giants, the German centre-back won four Bundesliga titles and three European Cups.
Before Sergio Ramos (2018), Beckenbauer stood alone as the only player to win three European Cups (now called the UEFA Champions League) as captain.
During the 1970s, there was arguably nobody as good as 'Der Kaiser' playing in Europe. He capped off a stunning decade with two Ballon d'Or awards, won in 1972 and 1976.
Franz Beckenbauer's career was the blueprint for many young defenders after him to follow. Mathias Sammer, a fellow German, came closest to replicating 'Der Kaiser', winning the Ballon d'Or in 1996. However, in terms of impact, nobody might ever come close to Kaiser.
#2 Mesut Ozil
Mesut Ozil was born in Gelsenkirchen, West Germany, in 1988. Predominantly an attacking midfielder, the German has wowed fans worldwide with his exceptional ball control and first touch.
Ozil came through the ranks at Schalke before joining Werder Bremen. There. he was noticed by Real Madrid, who signed the midfielder in 2010 for €15 million. He won La Liga and the Copa del Rey with Madrid during his time in Spain. He scored 27 goals and provided an incredible 80 assists in 160 games. He was part of a strong young core at Real Madrid.
In 2014, Ozil moved to Arsenal for £42.5 million, and quickly became one of the most key players for the club. He scored 44 goals and provided 79 assists during his time in England. Ozil won three FA Cups with Arsenal.
He provided some incredible assists while playing for the Gunners, with a flick against Aston Villa to send Olivier Giroud through on goal being one of them.
A few years later, the maestro scored a sublime late goal to secure victory for Arsenal in a Champions League game against Ludogorets. He received the ball near the halfway line before running towards goal. Ozil then rounded the goalkeeper, bamboozling two defenders down with a feint before calmly slotting into an empty net.
Later in his Arsenal career, Ozil was frozen out of the team due to internal issues with the club's management. He joined Fenerbahce in 2021, and currently plays for the Turkish club.
#1 Thomas Muller
Thomas Muller was born in West Germany in 1989, and plays mainly as an attacking midfielder or a forward.
Muller came through the ranks at Bayern Munich, and played for their second team before being promoted to the first team in 2008. Since then, Muller has been a key component of Bayern Munich's all-conquering teams.
The German has an incredible record for Bayern, scoring 222 goals and assisting 254 in 696 games across competitions. He has won ten Bundesliga titles and two UEFA Champions League trophies with the Bavarians.
Muller incredibly ranks second in the list of all-time assists, behind only Lionel Messi.
For the German national side, Muller has 42 goals in 110 appearances. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, he came into his own with five goals and three assists. The German won the Golden Boot award in the tournament, and was also named the Best Young Player there.
He scored five goals in the 2014 edition as well, helping Germany clinch the title. That included an eventful game against Portugal that Germany won 4-0. Thomas Muller scored a hat-trick, and was involved in an incident that saw Portuguese defender Pepe sent off.
Muller's Bayern Munich are currently sitting comfortably in first place in the Bundesliga going into the Christmas period. They will hope to secure yet another league title before the FIFA World Cup in Qatar next year.
Surprisingly, Thomas Muller has not scored a single goal in 15 UEFA Euro games. All eyes will be on Muller (10 goals) as he looks to break Miroslav Klose's World Cup record of 16 next year.
