He was unable to score the winner in extra time, nor could he participate in the penalty shootout that Bayern lost. Yet his goal, which the likes of Robben and Ribery couldn't manage to score, was a huge sign of Muller's calmness under pressure. As were his three goals against Barcelona in the Champions League semifinals the following year. As great as he's been for Bayern, it isn't only at club level that Muller has produced on the biggest stage. The Germany international finished the World Cup with more goals for an under player since Pele, his five strikes and three assists propelling him to the Golden Boot and Best Young Player awards as the Nationalmannschaft finished a surprise third, their defeat to eventual champions Spain only coming in Muller's absence.
Four years later in Brazil, Muller equalled his previous tally while claiming the Silver Boot and Silver Ball awards as Germany won the World Cup for the first time in 24 years. He now has 10 goals at World Cups, just six behind Miroslav Klose's tournament record.
And at just 25 years of age, the attacking all-rounder has at least one or two more tournaments left in him. Whether for club or country, in a central role or out wide, Muller typically finds a way to get the job done. It's an underappreciated characteristic these days, as many stars are only able to truly produce at club level. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have competed in a combined six World Cups, yet neither has scored even once in the knockout rounds.
By contrast, half of Muller's 10 goals in football's most celebrated tournament have come after the group stage. He is also one of very few modern-day players to have done their job so effectively that a new role is born from their game.
He can play — nominally at least — in any position in attack or midfield, but he will rarely be found in the areas expected from someone playing in the role he is selected.
He is the number 10 who floats to the wing or drifts beyond the forwards; he is the wide forward who moves between the lines; he is the centre-forward who selflessly withdraws to create space for a midfield runner. The moment his marker loses sight of him is the moment he strikes, by making a quick, penetrative burst into the penalty area. And rightly so. And, yes, they are the two best players on the planet at present. But it's painful in an era when people like Gareth Bale and Wayne Rooney were once thrown in with that elite pair to comprise a forced threesome, that it hasn't even crossed anyone's mind to do the same with Muller.
If Messi is the most gracefully skillful player on the planet and Ronaldo the most frighteningly direct attacker, then surely the Raumdeuter is the most effectively deceptive silent killer in this world. His passing stats mightn't bowl you over, he might not have many freestyle tricks up his sleeve and he's probably not even in the top 10 finishers around.
But there's some madness in the concept that Thomas Muller is just damn good at everything - without being too good anything. And he's especially good at the things that you don't see. He is an omni-hazard that you couldn't write a specific warning sign for because you don't know why it's dangerous. Just stay clear. In his last three seasons at Bayern, Muller has hit over a combined total of 30 goals and assists for his club. The club that don't even have a position designated for him. He does that consistently from up front, from the wing, from midfield.
He does it as the Raumdeuter. When Messi and Ronaldo are incredulously written off in certain corners of the globe for their constant failure to light up a World Cup, Thomas Muller has starred in two already. He is neither pure centre-forward, second striker, attacking midfielder nor winger - but a little bit of all four and much more besides. Only teammate Robert Lewandowski and Borussia Dortmund captain Marco Reus produced more, while he leads the way for assists with a mind-bending count of across the same decade and into More than a third of them since have furnished Lewandowski.
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