Power Ranking: Top 10 greatest players to play soccer in the US
By Kris Whelan
No.5- Gerd Müller
‘The German Bomber’ as he is affectionately known is still the top goalscorer in German Bundesliga history with an incredible 365 goals. He also holds the record for most goals in one season which was an outstanding 40 goals in the 1971-72 season. The German striker also won the World Cup, finishing as top goalscorer of the competition. He also won the European Championships with Germany and had an immense club career with Bayern Munich winning four Bundesliga titles along with three European Cups. (Modern UEFA Champions League)
Müller was born on November 3rd, 1945 in Nördlingen, Germany. He made his professional debut for 1861 Nördlingen, his performances for his home town team were noticed by German giants Bayern Munich after he managed an unbelievable scoring record of 51 goals in 31 games. He would go on to play for Bayern for 15 years, scoring 398 goals over 453 games in all competitions.
His league goal scoring record is still more than 100 goals higher than second place Klaus Fischer. He held many records throughout his career and after. To put his goal scoring prowess in to context, his record for most goals in a calender year (85) was only broken by Lionel Messi in 2012. He finished as the top scorer in Germany on 7 occasions and top European goalscorer twice. His incredible goal scoring rate didn’t just happen with club, as he had more goals than games for his national team. He scored a total of 68 goals in 62 games, putting him in the top 25 international scorers of all time, even though he played less games than everyone else on the list.
After an illustrious career with Bayern Munich, the German striker decided to finish out his career in the US. He didn’t retire without a bang however, as he continued his good goalscoring record for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers with 38 goals over 71 games before retiring in 1981.
"“You know you’ve achieved everything when you acquire legendary status in your own lifetime. His record of 68 goals in 62 internationals will stand for eternity.” – German striker Rudi Voller “I believe Gerd Muller is the greatest of them all. He was unstoppable.Bayern have Gerd Müller to thank for what the club has become.Without Gerd’s goals, we’d still be sitting in a wood hut at the Sabener Strasse (training ground).” – Franz Beckenbauer"
Next: No.4- Franz Beckenbauer