Martina Müller (born 18 April 1980) is a retired German

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 lea ...

. She played as a striker for

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

and the German national team.

Club career

Müller had played at several smaller clubs at youth level, before joining the reigning German champions

FSV Frankfurt Fußballsportverein Frankfurt 1899 e.V., commonly known as simply FSV Frankfurt and known as simply Frankfurt, is a German association football club based in the Bornheim district of Frankfurt am Main, Hessen and founded in 1899. FSV Frankfurt ...

in 1998. Because many of club's star players, such as

Birgit Prinz Birgit Prinz (born 25 October 1977) is a German former footballer, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion and three-time FIFA World Player of the Year. In addition to the German national team, Prinz played for 1. FFC Frankfurt in the Frauen ...

and Sandra Smisek, had left that summer, Müller immediately became a regular starter and helped the team avoid relegation. After two years, she moved to

SC 07 Bad Neuenahr SC 07 Bad Neuenahr was a German association football, football club from Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Rhineland-Palatinate. The best-known section within the club was its women's football team, which was founded in 1969 and won the German Championship ...

, where she played for four seasons. In 2005, she joined

, at a time when the club had just been relegated to the second division. With 36 goals, Müller was the second Bundesliga top-scorer the following season, helping Wolfsburg to achieve immediate promotion back to the German top flight. Müller remained with Wolfsburg in their 2012–13 breakout season, when they won a treble of

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

and

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. ...

. In May 2013's Champions League final at Stamford Bridge Müller scored the decisive

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

to defeat

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...

1–0. The result halted Lyon's 118–match unbeaten run and stopped the French team winning a third successive continental title. On 13 April 2015 she announced that she would retire at the end of the 2014–15 season.

International career

Müller made her debut for the German national team against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in July 2000. In the following years, she won several major titles with Germany, almost exclusively as a reserve player, often coming on as a late substitute. Müller won her first international trophy at the 2001 European Championship. Two years later, she was part of Germany's winning team at the

2003 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial championship of women's association football, women's national soccer teams organized by FIFA. It was held in the United States from September ...

. She had three appearances and scored twice in the tournament. At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, Müller claimed the bronze medal. She again became world champion at the

2007 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the fifth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was an international football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but the outbreak o ...

, where she played in four matches, coming from the bench in all of them. She scored Germany's third goal in the semi-final against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Müller won the

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

a second time with Germany in 2009, and was called up for the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for List of women's national association football teams, women's national association football, football teams. It was held from 26 June to ...

squad.

Career statistics

International goals

''Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first:'' Source:

Honours

VfL Wolfsburg *

: Winner (2) 2012-13, 2013-14 *

: Winner (2) 2012-13, 2014-15 *

: Winner (2) 2012–13, 2013–14 Germany *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

: Winner (2)

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

: Winner (2)

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

* Olympic bronze medal: (1)

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Individual *

Silbernes Lorbeerblatt Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (, ), the highest sports award in Germany, was endowed on 23 June 1950 by the German President Theodor Heuss. It is awarded to athletes and teams of exemplary character that have won medals at Olympic and Paralympic Games ...

: 2003, 2007 * German Women's Footballer of the Year: 2013

References

External links

*
Profile
at

Profile
at the

German Football Federation The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of the m ...

Profile
at Weltfussball.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Muller, Martina 1980 births Living people German women's footballers Germany women's international footballers 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players SC 07 Bad Neuenahr players Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Germany Footballers from Kassel VfL Wolfsburg (women) players FSV Frankfurt (women) players Frauen-Bundesliga players Olympic medalists in football 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players FIFA Women's World Cup–winning players FIFA Women's Century Club Women's association football forwards Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Germany UEFA Women's Championship–winning players UEFA Women's Champions League–winning players 21st-century German sportswomen