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His global career began on a small meadow behind a farm. Thomas Müller was just one and a half years old when his cousins passed him a ball while they were playing football. Little Thomas laughed and kicked it – it quickly became his favorite toy.
At that time, the family, including his parents Klaudia and Gerhard and his brother Simon, lived in an apartment in his grandmother’s house on his uncle’s farm in Pähl, a small town in Bavaria with a population of just 2,500. Klaudia Müller was not particularly surprised at the talent of her little Thomas. She once said that he was already kicking around like a footballer in her belly.
In the decades that followed, Pähl went into the big world of football. Wembley Stadium in London, Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Stade de France in Paris. Thomas Müller developed into one of the most successful, popular and characteristic sportsmen Germany has ever had. One who shaped an era. Who fascinated people with his goals and his special style. Who developed and at the same time remained true to himself. Who was more than just a player. A piece of German and Bavarian cultural heritage, many say.
He played for the national team for 14 years, played 131 games and took part in eight tournaments. He triumphed at the 2014 World Cup. He fought his way back into the team after what many saw as a rather arbitrary ousting under national coach Joachim Löw after the disastrous 2018 World Cup. And now it’s over.
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On Wednesday afternoon, “Bild” announced the end of his career in the national team. Müller had recently discussed things with national coach Julian Nagelsmann and his entourage – and obviously came to the decision to close the chapter.
He played his first international match at the age of 20 and his last at the age of 34. His appearance as a substitute in the quarter-finals of the European Championship in Germany against Spain (1:2 after extra time) was his last. Only Lothar Matthäus (150) and Miroslav Klose (137) played more often for Germany. Müller scored 45 goals for Germany, including two penalties. He was the second oldest player in the European Championship squad behind goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (38).
The legendary World Cup greetings to Grandma Erna
The national team was always a matter of the heart for him. A childhood dream that he lived out. He lived it for his younger brother Simon – the siblings have a close relationship and support each other a lot. Simon is a huge football fan and works as team leader for FC Bayern. So there were emotional scenes at the European Championship exit in Stuttgart: Thomas cried on the pitch, Simon in the stands.
Although there are now other regular players in the national team, Müller will be missed. A very special national player is saying goodbye. He provided Germany with very important goals, passes, victories and actions – and special scenes off the pitch. Unforgettable when, as a 20-year-old, after his two goals against England in the round of 16 of the World Cup in South Africa (4:1), he asked in a television interview: “Can I say hello to anyone else?” And then sent greetings to his two grandmas and grandpa: “That’s long overdue.”
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Grandma Erna had watched the game on TV with a candle on the table in the “Austragsstüberl” (apartment for the old farmers after the farm was handed over). And when her Thomas greeted her, she said: “Nice, isn’t it? Such a nice boy.” The proud grandmother added: “I think Thomas got his football habit from my husband.”
Football definitely took Müller very far. He played in his sometimes unconventional style. In the group match of the 2014 World Cup, Pepe knocked him down with a headbutt, the Portuguese was shown the red card and Müller bled. In the 2021 European Championship round of 16 against England, Müller shot just wide of the goal and his team was eliminated after a 2-0 defeat. He had so many national team moments and national team sayings that it would take hours to read this text if they were all listed here.
Thomas Müller (centre) poses in 2010 with the “Golden Shoe” for the World Cup top scorer with the then Adidas boss Herbert Hainer (left) and icon Franz Beckenbauer
Source: picture alliance/dpa/David Ebener
The beginning of Müller’s career with the national team was accompanied by tragedy: Löw called him and nominated him for the squad for the international match against the Ivory Coast. Before that, the team played against Chile, but Müller was supposed to help the U21s in an important qualifying match and only then join the senior team. At the time, he had only been a Bundesliga player for seven months.
When Diego Maradona didn’t recognize him
Then national goalkeeper Robert Enke took his own life and the match against Chile in Cologne was cancelled. Two months later, Müller was part of the national team for the first time; his teammates at the time included Michael Ballack and Miroslav Klose.
The Müller family in the stands against Spain: mother Klaudia (middle), father Gerhard (right) and brother Simon
Source: dpa/Christian Charisius
At the beginning of 2010, he made his debut against Argentina, in the Munich stadium of all places, and Löw then took him to the World Cup. And in Pähl they cheered: “Our Thomas for Germany!” After the game, the legend Diego Maradona, then Argentina’s national coach, did not recognize Müller at the press conference. He probably wanted the podium for himself. Müller took it easy and let Maradona go first.
When someone explained to Maradona that Müller had been running up and down the touchline in front of him a few minutes earlier, he apologized to Müller in front of the television cameras. In his very first World Cup match in Durban against Australia, Müller provided the assist and scored for his country for the first time. His biggest competitor for the right-back position at the time was Piotr Trochowski.
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At this tournament, Müller developed into an international young star, and later a world star. At the World Cup, he was top scorer with five goals and three assists – ahead of the stars Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands) and David Villa (Spain) – and was also the tournament’s best young player. At the World Cup four years later, he scored five goals again; only the Colombian James, with whom Müller would later play at FC Bayern, scored one more goal.
The national player Müller always had the same characteristics as the FC Bayern player: an incredible readiness, both mentally and physically. A special instinct. And the ability to read a game better than other professionals. To anticipate situations, to speculate cleverly, to lurk. If football were like driving, every driving instructor would want to include Müller’s forward-looking driving in their textbooks. Müller himself once said it: the ability to anticipate the “second ball” is one of his great strengths. Another is his humanity.
Thomas Müller consoles his teammate Florian Wirtz after the European Championship defeat against Spain
Quelle: dpa/Marijan Murat
Since childhood, he has been used to travelling with teams and living with them. And he loves it. Before the European Championships in Germany, national coach Nagelsmann described Müller as a “connector”, as a link between the groups of players in the squad. As a “lubricant”, as someone who can deal with “yodelers and rappers equally well”.
That’s actually how it always was. But Müller wasn’t just that in the last few weeks of his national team career. He was the coach’s right arm, got involved, and had good moves on the field after being substituted.
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The fact that he can still keep up at his age is mainly due to his professional lifestyle. Müller has been intensively involved with nutrition for years and has also optimized his sleep and breathing with the help of experts.
He was no longer part of the starting eleven – Nagelsmann had already told him that before the tournament. Müller not only accepted his role – he filled it with all his energy. Nagelsmann substituted him twice: in the 5-1 opening match against Scotland, in Müller’s “living room”, in the Munich stadium. The fans celebrated him with chants.
Thomas Müller: “I am proud to be German”
And against Spain, in the arena in Stuttgart, he had a good chance to score. Müller said goodbye in tears and thanked the fans for their support with applause. His former teammate Per Mertesacker, with whom he won the World Cup in 2014, said he had never seen Müller cry like that. And he assumed he would retire.
“We can be proud,” said Müller. “I am proud to be part of this team and, above all, proud to be German.” And he continued: “Thank you to everyone who cheered us on and was a great host. Let us take this feeling with us into our everyday lives, especially in these times.” This is also what has always distinguished Müller as a national player: a feeling for the relevance of the selection for society, a sense of the mood in the country, a fine antenna for the right message at the right time.
Thomas Müller (middle) celebrates winning the World Cup in 2014 on the Berlin fan mile with Lukas Podolski (right) and Per Mertesacker (left)
Source: picture alliance/augenklick/firo Sportphoto/Christopher Ne
And so it happened. But unlike Toni Kroos, this European Championship was not the end of Müller’s entire career. His contract with FC Bayern runs until June 30, 2025. Müller will turn 35 in September. It could be his last season. He and the fans are looking forward to it, and Müller is hungry for trophies after a titleless season with the German record champions.
As a child, Müller slept in FC Bayern bedding, devoured “Bravo Sport” as a child in the 1990s and, as a fan and youth player of the club, followed everything that happened at the club. Even Giovanni Trapattoni’s angry speech.
In keeping with his legendary statement after the European Championship exit, the following applies: Thomas Müller is not finished yet.
