BERLIN: Gerd Mueller's record of 68 international goals in 62 games for West Germany earned him the nickname 'The Bomber' for his ability to destroy countless defences.

It took Miroslav Klose more than double the amount of games to finally reach the tally of 71 goals, in 137 internationals, to better Mueller's mark.

In the 1971/72 season, Mueller, who died Sunday aged 75 after battling Alzheimer's, netted an incredible 40 league goals in 34 games.

The jaw-dropping German league record stood unchallenged until Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski scored for the 41st time on the final weekend of last season.

Born on November 3, 1945, Mueller's career coincided with a golden era for both West German football and the rise of Bayern Munich.

He was signed by Bayern, who were then a second division club, in 1964.

His short, stocky frame with a barrel-like chest led to club coach Zlatko Cajkovski quipping: "What am I supposed to do with a weightlifter?"

But Mueller's powerful legs became the stuff of Bayern folklore - his thighs were a massive 64-centimetres in diameter - and the goals he netted wrote him into the club's folklore.

As Mueller's former team-mate Franz Beckenbauer said: "Everything that Bayern has become is due to Gerd Mueller and his goals."

Before he turned 18, Mueller had progressed through a variety of school and junior teams before joining his local club TSV Nordlingen, for whom he scored a remarkable 180 goals in the 1962/63 season, which attracted Bayern's attention.

He put his strength down to his mother's rich potato salad and Cajkovski affectionately referred to him as the "short, fat Mueller".

In 1965, Mueller, goalkeeper Sepp Maier and Beckenbauer helped Bayern win promotion to the Bundesliga.

The club never looked back, finishing third in their first season in the top flight and lifting the German Cup, a feat they repeated in 1967, 1969 and 1971.