Dieter Müller (

né A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth reg ...

Kaster; 1 April 1954) is a German former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

who played as a forward. He achieved his greatest success playing for

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., commonly known as simply FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English, is a German professional football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs ''Kölner Ball ...

in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footb ...

in the late 1970s. Müller scored 177 goals in 303 games in the German league, including six goals in one game in August 1977, a record that still stands. He also played 12 times for

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

from 1976 to 1978, scoring nine goals.

Career

Müller played and scored in the

UEFA Euro 1976 The 1976 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Yugoslavia. This was the fifth UEFA European Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 16 and 20 June 1976. Only f ...

final, which West Germany lost on penalties to Czechoslovakia. He was again in the national team in the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by ...

, though the campaign ended in disappointment when West Germany, the defending champions, did not qualify for the tournament's final. In his spell with

he set a record for the most goals scored by a player in a single

match. On 17 August 1977, he tallied six goals (scoring in the 12th, 23rd, 32nd, 52nd, 73rd and in the 85th minute) in Köln's 7–2 victory over

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

in front of a crowd of 19,000 at Köln's Müngersdorfer Stadion. However, since television cameramen were on strike on that day, there are no known film of Müller's goals. He was crowned Bundesliga topscorer that season (24 goals in 33 games), as he had the season before (34 goals in 34 appearances). After he left Köln, he played for several seasons in France and Switzerland, before returning to West Germany. Müller is the son of Heinz Kaster, who played as a defender for FC St. Pauli and

Kickers Offenbach Offenbacher Kickers, also known as Kickers Offenbach, is a German association football club in Offenbach am Main, Hesse. The club was founded on 27 May 1901 in the Rheinischer Hof restaurant by footballers who had left established local clubs ...

in the early 1950s. The striker had already been a schoolboy international, when his stepfather's adoption turned his surname into Müller.

Personal life

Müller's son Alexander, aged 16, died of a

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seco ...

in 1997. Müller suffered a severe heart attack on 5 October 2012 and fell into a five-day coma.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

1. FC Köln *

: 1977-78 *

DFB Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

: 1976–77, 1977–78 Bordeaux *

French Division 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

: 1984–85 Individual * Bundesliga top scorer: 1976–77, 1977–78 * UEFA European Championship top scorer:

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

* UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament:

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Muller, Dieter 1954 births Living people West German footballers German footballers Association football forwards Germany international footballers Germany B international footballers UEFA Euro 1976 players 1978 FIFA World Cup players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Ligue 1 players Swiss Super League players Kickers Offenbach players 1. FC Köln players VfB Stuttgart players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Grasshopper Club Zürich players 1. FC Saarbrücken players German football chairmen and investors Sportspeople from Offenbach am Main Footballers from Hesse West German expatriate footballers German expatriate footballers German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Switzerland German expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in France