Gerd Müller was the most lethal penalty-box finisher the game has known, a stocky German striker with an uncanny instinct for goal and a low centre of gravity that made him unstoppable in tight spaces. Nicknamed Der Bomber, he scored at a rate that remains almost beyond belief.
For Bayern Munich he was the spearhead of a side that conquered Europe repeatedly, and for West Germany he supplied the goals that won the 1972 European Championship and the 1974 World Cup, including the winner in the final.
His records for club and country stood for decades, and his poacher’s art defined the role of the classic number nine. Few forwards have translated the simple business of scoring into such an enduring legacy.