Luís Antônio Corrêa da Costa, nicknamed Müller, (born January 31, 1966) is a Brazilian football

pundit A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

and retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

Club career

Müller is one of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

's all-time leading scorers with 158 goals. With the club he won the Intercontinental Cup in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, scoring the third goal against

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

in Tokyo. He later had spells in Italy, and played for several other Brazilian clubs, such Cruzeiro. He retired from professional football in 2004.

International career

Müller made his debut for the Brazilian National team in March 1986, in a friendly against West Germany. He was on the losing side as the Germans won 2–0 in Frankfurt. He continued to appear in friendlies across that spring, including scoring his first goal for the National team against East Germany in a 3–0 home win. That summer, Müller played a part in each of Brazil's games in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. Brazil were eliminated in the Quarter finals after losing a penalty shootout to France. Müller had been substituted by this point and his replacement, Zico, had missed a penalty (actually stopped by

Joël Bats Joël Bats (born 4 January 1957) is a French former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent his entire senior club career in his native France, appearing in a total of 553 competitive club matches and 504 Division 1 matche ...

) in normal time with the scores level. Müller played for Brazil in the 1987 Copa America. They were eliminated in the opening round by the eventual runners-up, Chile. He was then left out of Brazil's victory in the 1989 Copa America, but returned to the side in time to play in the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. He registered two goals and an assist during an impressive group stage for Brazil, but the team fell to Argentina in the second round. Müller would feature less after the World Cup and missed the 1991 Copa America, but he was recalled by Carlos Alberto Parreira and was a key player in the 1993 Copa America, where Brazil lost to Argentina on penalties in the Quarter Finals. Müller went to his third World Cup when he was named in the squad for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA. By this time, Brazil's favoured strikers were Romario and Bebeto, and so Müller's contributions were limited to a nine-minute substitute appearance against Cameroon in the first round. Müller would make fewer appearances for Brazil after the 1994 World Cup. His next appearance was in a home friendly against Wales in November 1997. His last appearance for the national team came in a friendly in September 1998 against Yugoslavia.

Style of play

Müller played in an "old fashioned" left sided

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

position, despite being naturally right footed. His function as a second striker was primarily that of making passes, serving his teammates, and creating goalscoring opportunities or providing assists, but he was also capable of playing as a striker, due to his effectiveness on

counter-attack A counterattack is a tactic employed in response to an attack, with the term originating in "war games". The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy during attack, while the specific objectives typically seek ...

s, as well as his ability to make runs from the left flank or cut into the centre to strike on goal with his stronger foot.

After football

After retiring from professional football in 2004, Müller worked as a television football commentator.

Personal life

Müller's brother,

Cocada Cocada are a traditional coconut confectionery found in many parts of Latin America. They are particularly popular in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama, Venezuela and Ecuador. They are oven baked bu ...

, was also a footballer.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

São Paulo * São Paulo State League: 1985, 1987, 1991, 1992 * Brazilian League:

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

* Intercontinental Cup:

* Libertadores Supercup:

Torino *

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

: 1989–90 *

Mitropa Cup The Mitropa Cup, officially called the La Coupe de l'Europe Centrale or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the successor states of the former Austria-Hungar ...

: 1991 Palmeiras * São Paulo State League: 1996 Cruzeiro * Minas Gerais State League: 1998 *

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana ( pt, CONMEBOL Recopa Sul-Americana), known also as the Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as the Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club association football, football compe ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

Brazilian Cup The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Corinthians * South Minas Cup: 2001 Brazil U20 *

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 wh ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Brazil *

Rous Cup The Rous Cup was a short-lived football competition in the second half of the 1980s, contested between England, Scotland and, in later years, a guest team from South America. Overview The Rous Cup arose from the ashes of the British Home Cha ...

: 1987 *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

Individual * Brazilian League Top Scorer: 1987 *Top player of the Intercontinental Cup's final: 1992 * Bola de Prata: 1997

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Muller 1966 births Living people People from Campo Grande Brazilian footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers São Paulo FC players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players Associação Portuguesa de Desportos players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Santos FC players Associação Desportiva São Caetano players Tupi Football Club players Ipatinga Futebol Clube players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players Torino F.C. players A.C. Perugia Calcio players Kashiwa Reysol players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Serie A players Serie B players J1 League players Japan Football League (1992–1998) players Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Japan Brazil international footballers FIFA World Cup-winning players 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1987 Copa América players 1993 Copa América players Brazil under-20 international footballers Grêmio de Esportes Maringá managers Association football forwards Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Brazilian football managers Sportspeople from Mato Grosso do Sul