3 November: Gerd Müller, der Bomber

Gerd Müller

Short, stocky and in the right place

When he joined Bayern in 1964, the coach did not want to know: he was short, thick-legged and did not look like a footballer. He scored until there was no choice but to play him. With him and Beckenbauer, Bayern went from the second tier to European champions.

His secret was the six-yard box: a lightning turn, a low centre of gravity and an instinct for knowing where the rebound would fall before anyone else.

The numbers

In 1971-72 he scored 40 Bundesliga goals, a record that lasted almost half a century, until Robert Lewandowski beat it by one in 2021. In the calendar year of 1972 he scored 85 goals, another mark that held for forty years, until Messi.

At the 1970 World Cup in Mexico he scored ten goals and was top scorer; his fourteen World Cup goals stood as the tournament record until Ronaldo, born on 18 September, overtook it in 2006.

Munich, 7 July 1974

In the 1974 World Cup final against Cruyff's Netherlands, at 1-1, Müller controlled a Bonhof cross, turned on a sixpence and drove it into the far corner. It was the winning goal and his last game for his country: he was twenty-eight. He then played in the United States and died in 2021, after years of illness. Bayern regard him as the most important player in their history.

Also born on 3 November

Pablo Aimar, el Payaso

🎂 turns 47

An Argentine playmaker who moved from River to Valencia in 2001 and was the talent of Rafa Benítez's side that won two league titles and the 2004 UEFA Cup. Leo Messi has always named him as his childhood idol. Years later he was Scaloni's assistant with the Argentina side that won the 2022 World Cup.

Born3 November 1979

CountryArgentina

Positionmidfielder

Clubs

• Asociación Atlética Estudiantes 1985-1993
• Club Atlético River Plate 1993-1997
• Club Atlético River Plate 1996-2000 · 21 goals
• Valencia Club de Fútbol 2001-2006 · 27 goals
• Real Zaragoza 2006-2008 · 5 goals
• Sport Lisboa e Benfica 2008-2013 · 12 goals

National teamselección de fútbol de Argentina

Honours

La Liga 2002 and 2004UEFA Cup 2004

↻ Dates, clubs and individual awards come from Wikidata and update themselves

Unai Emery, the king of the Europa League

🎂 turns 55

A coach from Hondarribia who has made the Europa League his home: three in a row with Sevilla (2014, 2015 and 2016) and a fourth with Villarreal in 2021, on penalties against Manchester United. He then took Aston Villa into the Champions League for the first time in forty years.

Born3 November 1971

CountrySpain

Positionmidfielder

Clubs

• Real Sociedad de Fútbol "B" 1990-1995 · 7 goals
• Real Sociedad de Fútbol 1995-1996 · 1 goals
• Club Deportivo Toledo 1996-2000 · 2 goals
• Racing Club de Ferrol 2000-2002 · 7 goals
• Club Deportivo Leganés 2002-2003
• Lorca Deportiva Club de Fútbol 2003-2004 · 1 goals

↻ Dates, clubs and individual awards come from Wikidata and update themselves

🔴⚪ Sporting Gijón players born this day

They played for Sporting Gijón and were born on this same day. There is only their data here: we would rather name them than leave them out, and rather give the bare facts than invent a story.

Another 47 internationally known footballers were born on this day. We do not list them for the sake of it: only those with a story to tell make it here.

Dates, clubs, individual awards and photos come from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, under free licences, and update themselves. Ages are not written anywhere: they are calculated the moment you open the page, so this page always shows the right age, this year and twenty years from now. If any of these players signs for another club or wins an award, their profile picks it up on its own. What is written by hand is the story and the judgement: who the day belongs to, and why.