THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2021 Page 5 Bomber der Nation G By The Old Sachem, Bill Stewart erhard Müller was a professional footballer (we know it as soccer) regarded as one of the greatest goal scorers of all time. He was renowned for his inside finishing, especially within the sixyard box. Gerd was born November 3, 1945, in Nördlingen in Allied-occupied Germany and passed away earlier this month. His nickname is the title of this article. He was named European Footballer of the Year in 1970. The author Davis Winner writes in his book “Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football” that “Muller was short, squat, awkward-looking and was not looking notably fast: he never fitted the conventional idea of a great footballer, but he had lethal acceleration over short distances, a remarkable aerial game, and uncanny goalscoring instincts. His short legs gave him a low center of gravity, so he could run quickly, and with perfect balance in spaces and at speeds that would cause other players to fall over. He also had a knack of scoring in unlikely situations.” Franz Beckenbauer commented on his teammate that Gerd had unusual speed, extreme acceleration and deceptive changes of pace to get to loose balls first, and bypass defenders. Franz stated, “In training I played against him and I never had a chance.” Gerd had an international career, playing for West Germany, and he was Germany’s all-time leading scorer for almost 40 years until he we superseded by Miroslav Klose in 2014. Klose, though, had over double the number of competitions to receive the title. Müller scored 68 goals for West Germany internationally, while Klose scored his 69th goal in his 132nd appearance. Müller’s football career started in his hometown of Nördlingen with the club TSV in 1961. He started playing for Bayern Munich in 1964 in the Regional League South (Regionalliga Süd), one level below the Bundesliga, the premier league of Germany. After his first season, the club was promoted to the premier league of Germany and over time became the most successful club in Germany with a long string of successes during the 1960s and 1970s. Bayern Munich won the German championship four times, the DFB-Pokal four times, the European Champions Cup for three consecutive years as the first German team to win it. He was the league’s top scorer seven times and scored 365 goals in 427 matches in the Bundesliga for Bayern Munich, almost 100 goals over the second league scorer, Robert Lewandowski. Gerd had the single season record of 40 goals until it was surpassed by Lewandowski with 41 during the 2020-2021 season. Müller received the European Golden Boot as the top scorer in the World Cup in 1970. Müller averaged over a goal a game in seven of his 14 seasons and scored 68 in 62 German international games. He held the professional record of most goals scored in a calendar year, 85, in 1972, until Lionel Messi 40 years later in 2012. Müller’s international career started in 1966 and ended on July 7, 1974, when Germany won the World Cup in his home stadium in Munich, where he scored the winning goal in a victory over Netherlands, against Johan Cruyff in the final. (Johan was the subject of an earlier Old Sachem column.) Gerd scored four goals in the 1974 tournament, which, together with his 10 goals in the 1970 World Cup tourney, made him the alltime World Cup scorer with Latest COVID-19 data shows dramatic increase in Saugus T he Massachusetts Department of Public Health has notified the Town of Saugus of 4,451 confirmed cases of COVID-19. According to the Saugus Health Department this includes 74 deaths in Saugus. The new figure represents 68 new cases during the last seven days. Our hearts and prayers go out to those families affected by this health pandemic. 14 goals, which stood as the mark until the Brazilian striker Ronaldo surpassed it in the 2006 World Cup competition. Gerd played for Germany in the 1972 European Championship, where he became the top scorer with four goals, including two in the final where West Germany won the title. He quit playing for West Germany after the 1974 World Cup when an argument presented; German officials’ wives were invited to a championship celebration, but players’ wives were not. He joined the Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the North American Soccer League in 1979. In three seasons for the Strikers, he scored 40 goals and led his team to the championship game, which they lost in 1980. He ended his playing career in 1984 when he suffered from alcoholism and his former teammates of Bayern Munich convinced him to go through rehabilitation. After his problem was conquered, Gerd became a coach of Bayern Munich. Adidas completed a collection of apparel in the Gerd Müller name, part of the original Adidas original series. The Rieser Sportpark in Nördlingen where Müller began his career was named for him as the Gerd Müller Stadium in July 2008. It was announced in October 2015 that Gerd Müller suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, and he died on August 15, 2021, at the age of 75. In all of his German league games, including the TSV team, he scored 398 goals in 453 appearances. In 62 Cup games he scored 78 goals; in the European championships he scored 65 goals in 74 appearances; and in other professional games he scored 22 goals in 16 games. At Fort Lauderdale he appeared in 71 contests and scored 38 goals. His professional totals are 654 goals in 716 games. Most Americans never saw the great Gerd Müller in his prime, but those of Florida did see him at the end of his career and cheered him as a one of the greatest of all time. St. Margaret’s announces annual yard sale S t. Margaret’s Church, which is located at 431 Lincoln Ave., will be holding its annual indoor yard sale on Saturday, August 28, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the lower church hall. Lots of treasures to be found! Everyone is welcome. For more information, please call the rectory at 781-233-1040. On Sunday, August 29, from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m., join us at St. Margaret’s for Lemonade on the Lawn, where we will have free lemonade and cookies! This will follow the 9 a.m. Mass.
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