Germany and Bayern Munich great Gerd Muller dies aged 75

'Der Bomber' was one of football's greatest goalscorers

(FILE) - A file picture dated 07 July 1974 shows Germany's 2-1 winning goal scorer Gerd Mueller (R) celebrating with German head coach Helmut Schoen (L) after winning the FIFA 1974 World Cup final soccer match against the Netherlands in Munich, Germany (reissued 15 August 2021). German soccer legend Gerd Mueller died on 15 August 2021 at the age of 75, his former club Bayern Munich released. EPA / STAFF B / W ONLY GERMANY OUT *** Local Caption *** 02240194

Coach Helmut Schon, his assistant Jupp Derwall, goalscorer Gerd Muller and team captain Franz Beckenbauer celebrate winning the 1974 World Cup 1974.

Gerd Muller scores a goal against Australia during the 1974 World Cup.

Gerd Muller fights for the ball with Wim Rijsbergen of the Netherlands in the 1974 World Cup final.

Gerd Muller scores the second goal for West Germany against the Dutch in 1974.

Gerd Muller celebrates with then German national coach Helmut Schon at the Olympic Stadium Munich after the 1974 World Cup final.

Gerd Muller holds a Golden Boot award for the top goalscorer at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Thomas Muller and Gerd Muller during a photo shoot in Pretoria, South Africa, 2010.

West German forward Gerd Muller at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.

Gerd Muller in May 1974.

Germany great Gerd Muller, regarded as one of the game's greatest goalscorers and nicknamed "Bomber der Nation", has died at the age of 75, his former club Bayern Munich said on Sunday.

Muller, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, scored 68 goals in 62 appearances for West Germany - including the winning goal in the 1974 World Cup final against the Netherlands. He spent 15 years at Bayern, scoring a record 365 goals in 427 league appearances.

"Today is a sad, black day for 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," Bayern president Herbert Hainer said in a statement.

"We're united in deep sorrow with his wife Uschi and his family. Without Gerd Muller, Bayern would not be the club we all love today. His name and the memory of him will live on forever."

He was mocked for being short and fat and once said, if he had not made it as a football player, he would probably have worked in insurance.

But office hours were not required for Muller. Instead, he made a mockery of his early critics and amassed a goalscoring record which ensured he will go down in history as one of football’s finest strikers.

“Without his goals, FC Bayern and German football would not be what they are today,” said another of the club’s greats, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, in 2015.

“He was still remains the best of all time, the Muhammad Ali of the penalty box.”

Muller played an integral role in Bayern's rise from the German regional leagues to three consecutive European Cup triumphs from 1974.

His goals record for West Germany stood for 40 years until it was finally surpassed by Miroslav Klose.

And he saved arguably the most important of his then-record 14 World Cup final goals for last, netting the winner as West Germany secured the 1974 title with a 2-1 victory over Holland on home soil.

Not bad for a player whose stocky and powerful appearance led to him being nicknamed “short, fat Muller” by his first coach at Bayern, Zlatko Cajkovski.

Muller was born on November 3, 1945 in Nordlingen, Germany, a town notable for its craftsmen and, in particular, weaving, in which he served a junior apprenticeship.

At the same time, Muller was developing a powerful physique which belied his initial appearance and saw him carve a reputation as a goalscorer of considerable repute with his hometown club.

After scoring over 50 goals in 1964, Muller was brought into a rising Bayern squad already underpinned by fellow future superstars Franz Beckenbauer and Sepp Maier.

Together, they would elevate the club to unimaginable heights, with Muller’s goals integral to the club’s four Bundesliga triumphs between 1969 and 1974.

As Bayern rose to the status of European superpower on the back of his clinical penalty box strikes, Muller shed his first derogatory nickname and developed a new one: Der Bomber.

Muller replicated his goalscoring exploits on the international stage, where his made his debut for West Germany in 1966.

In 1972, two years after being crowned European Footballer of the Year, pipping Bobby Moore to the Ballon d’Or, Muller dominated the European Championship in Belgium, scoring twice in his country’s 3-0 victory over the Soviet Union in the final.

Two years later, after claiming the World Cup for Germany on home soil, he abruptly announced his retirement from international football at the age of just 28.

Although Muller continued to succeed with Bayern, he became increasingly unsettled, and in 1979 opted to follow Beckenbauer to the United States, where he signed for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.

He played three seasons in the US and opened a restaurant, before announcing his retirement in 1982.

Muller struggled in his post-football career, and entered a clinic for alcohol dependency after the intervention of one of his World Cup-winning team-mates, Uli Hoeness.

Hoeness subsequently became the general manager at Bayern and brought Muller back to the club as coach of the Bayern Munich II team.

Shortly before his 70th birthday in 2015, Bayern announced that Muller had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. He is survived by wife Uschi and daughter Nicole.