Olaf Thon on Gerd Müller’s death: “He was my idol”

Updated August 17, 2021, 2:36 pm

• Olaf Thon commented on Gerd Müller’s death.
• Our columnist describes the Bayern record striker as his idol and the greatest center forward of all time.
• He also talks about joint tennis matches.

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The death of Gerd Müller concerns sports enthusiasts far beyond the borders of Bavaria and Germany. The former Schalke and FCB professional Olaf Thon has also commented on the death of the exceptional striker.

Thon said to our editorial team: “I think Gerd Müller has struggled over the last few years and that is why it was probably a relief. Nevertheless, we are all sad.” He personally knew Müller very well. At times he was assistant coach at Bayern when Thon played there himself.

Müller beats Thon in tennis despite a new hip

Olaf Thon also talks about joint activities away from the pitch: “We played tennis together during my time in Munich and he always beat me, even though he already had two new hips.” The two of them also played cards a lot.

When Germany became world champion with Gerd Müller in 1974, the then eight-year-old Thon Müller became a fan. He was next to Klaus Fischer Thon’s idol. “We are all very sad to have lost the greatest center forward of all time.”