5 greatest German footballers of all time

#2 Gerd Muller

Gerd Muller

Gerd Muller is the greatest goal-scorer in the history of football. Muller’s incredible tally of 68 goals in only 62 matches for West Germany is a testimony to his outstanding ability as a striker. He was also a very prolific scorer for his club Bayern Munich and remains the highest scorer in the history of Bundesliga with 615 goals in 636 matches.

Gerd Muller played in only 2 World Cups but scored an incredible 14 goals which make him the 3rd highest goal scorer in the history of the tournament. Quite possibly the greatest goal-scorer the world has seen, Muller was clinical inside the opposition penalty box. He scored 10 goals in the 1970 World Cup including 2 hat-tricks and won the prestigious Golden Boot, but West Germany lost to Italy in that unforgettable semi-final to bow out of the tournament.

However, Muller made up for that reversal in 1974 by helping his country win the World Cup as hosts. He scored 4 goals in the tournament including the vital equaliser against Holland in the final. Franz Beckenbauer, the German captain, hailed Muller as the most important member of the side. Muller also won 4 Bundesliga titles, 3 European Cups and 1 European Cup Winners' Cup for Bayern in the 13 seasons he spent with the club. Muller was rightly called " Der Bomber" or " The Bomber" because of his clinical approach as a striker.