Franz Beckenbauer on Gerd Müller: “We were like brothers”

“Kaiser” Franz Beckenbauer was hit hard by the news of the death of his long-time companion and good friend Gerd Müller. “Even if you had to fear the news for a long time: It hits me like a shock,” said Bayern Munich’s honorary president of the picture: “He was such a fine guy and much more subtle than many thought. Gerd and I – we were like brothers . “

The former world-class scorer and “bomber of the nation” died on Sunday morning at the age of 75. Müller suffered from Alzheimer’s and had lived in a nursing home south of Munich for years.

Beckenbauer remembered an anecdote with the exceptional footballer from the time they spent together with the German record champions: “We lived only a few kilometers away from each other. He picked me up before games and sometimes had to wait for me. When he said impatiently: ‘Franz, we’re late for the team departure. ‘ Then I laughed: ‘Dicker’ – that’s what I called him – ‘remember one thing. Nobody leaves Bavaria without us …’ “said Beckenbauer.

Müller, the 2-1 winning goal scorer of the 1974 World Cup final against the Netherlands, crowned himself world champion together with Beckenbauer and, among others, Uli Hoeneß. “It was a great honor for me personally that I was allowed to play at his side,” said Hoeneß to Münchner Merkur and tz.

“Gerd was unique on the pitch and next to the pitch he was always a modest, down-to-earth companion, valued by all of us about the size,” said Hoeneß. For the former Bayern president, Müller was a man “to whom we all owe an infinite amount”.

Paul Breitner, also world champion 1974, was deeply affected. “For me, Gerd Müller was the greatest footballer of my life. Gerd is the base on which the great FC Bayern of our day emerged. Gerd has had a decisive influence on my life,” wrote Breitner in the tz.

He also thanked Müller’s wife Uschi, “that I was allowed to accompany him in his last years in the home. I was able to be close to him until the end.”