Müller also experienced a similar sporting trauma in 2012 at the Champions League final at home in the Munich Arena. The attacker had given Bayern a 1-0 lead in the 83rd minute – also with a header. After Chelsea scored the equalizer two minutes before the end, he and Bayern had to admit defeat on penalties.
But there are even more parallels between the two. Like Müller, Kögl, who comes from Penzberg, also grew up in the Munich area. Both were absolute crowd favorites at the club, also due to their down-to-earth, Bavarian manner and their cheeky style of play.
Is this exactly why the connection between Kögl and Müller is so successful? “I think I was always able to empathize with Thomas because I had a similarly rapid rise as a young player,” said Kögl in an interview with FC Bayern’s club magazine “51” almost six years ago. “But you never had to control Thomas, he always knew exactly what he wanted.”
This also applies to the humorous sayings and interviews for which Müller is known. Kögl always emphasizes that Müller never received media coaching or anything similar – neither from him nor from other experts. That was never necessary. Because: Müller has always been simply Müller, in front of and behind the cameras.
“I am of the opinion that the main character is the player and not his agent. I have done well with this maxim for 18 years,” said Kögl, who switched sides after retiring in 2001. “My goal was never to drum so loudly that I would become the market leader, but rather to look after at least one player who had a similar career to mine. With Thomas Müller, I was of course lucky that he achieved much more.”
