Vishnu Menon
6th November 2020
The Bavarian football legend- who once had the world at his feet has now fallen prey to dementia. The news of his illness was first brought out in 2015 by his home club FC Bayern Munich with whom he had won several championships.
Muller in the world cup 1974 (Source: The Republic world)
Muller's wife, Uschi Muller, gave out the heart-breaking details of his worsening condition. She revealed that Muller(75), now in treatment at a Bavarian nursing home in Wolfratshausen, sleeps almost all day and eats next to nothing. "Gerd has been so brave for all his life, and he is also fighting this too with calm and peacefulness. I don't think he's suffering but is slowly passing to the afterlife in his sleep", told Uschi to the German outlet BILD as reported by The Sun UK.
Nicknamed the 'bomber of the nations', Muller emerged as a national hero after netting the winning goal in the final in the 1974 world cup for the German national team against the Dutch national team. Muller had won the golden boot award in the previous installation of the tournament. He is one of the most prolific strikers of all time, having scored over 500 goals. He also held the record for scoring the most number of world cup goals for 32 years until his fellow countrymen, MIroslav Klose, overtook him in the 2018 world cup.
The current details of Muller's conditions were brought to light right after it was also revealed that England football legend Sir Bobby Charlton is also suffering from the same illness. The Dailymail UK mentioned that the 83-year-old is the fifth member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning team to suffer from the debilitating neurological condition. The others are Charlton's brother, Jack, who died in July, Nobby Stiles, who died in October, Ray Wilson, and Martin Peters.
Coincidentally footballing legends across the globe have been subject to this gruelling illness, which shows how dementia transcends boundaries. Bob Paisley (England), Ferenc Puskas (Hungary), Nat Lofthouse (England), Hilderaldo Bellini (Brazil), Dave McKay (Scotland), Goyo Bonito (Spain), Stan Bowles (England), Pietro Rava (Italy), Jose Luise Brown (Argentina)- are some of the elites to have succumbed to dementia as reported by The Dailymail UK.
(Sources- Daily Mail, The Sun, The Republic World)
Edited by- Nivedita Dutta