Müller (footballer, born 1966)

Luís Antônio Corrêa da Costa, nicknamed Müller, (born January 31, 1966) is a Brazilian football pundit and retired footballer who played as a second striker.

Müller
Personal information
Full name Luís Antônio Corrêa da Costa
Date of birth (1966-01-31) 31 January 1966 (age 58)
Place of birth Campo Grande, Brazil
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1983 Operário (MS)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–1988 São Paulo 60 (25)
1988–1991 Torino 65 (24)
1991–1994 São Paulo 41 (13)
1994–1996 Kashiwa Reysol 24 (8)
1995–1996Palmeiras (loan) 20 (8)
1996 São Paulo 20 (11)
1997 Perugia 6 (0)
1997–1998 Santos 27 (10)
1998–2001 Cruzeiro 43 (9)
2000–2001Corinthians (loan) 6 (1)
2001–2002 São Caetano 16 (4)
2003 Tupi 0 (0)
2003 Portuguesa 7 (1)
2004 Ipatinga 0 (0)
2015 Fernandópolis 1 (1)
Total 335 (114)
International career
1986–1998 Brazil 56 (12)
Managerial career
2009 Grêmio Maringá
2010 Sinop
2011 Imbituba
2014 Grêmio Maringá
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Brazil
FIFA World Cup
Winner 1994 USA
FIFA U–20 World Cup
Winner 1985 USSR
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career edit

Müller is one of São Paulo's all-time leading scorers with 158 goals. With the club he won the Intercontinental Cup in 1993, scoring the third goal against A.C. Milan in Tokyo. He later had spells in Italy, and played for several other Brazilian clubs, such Cruzeiro. He retired from professional football in 2004.[1]

International career edit

Müller made his debut for the Brazil 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.[2] Müller had been substituted by this point and his replacement, Zico, had missed a penalty (actually stopped by Joël Bats) in normal time with the scores level.[3]

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.[4]

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 edit

Müller played in an "old fashioned" left sided forward 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-attacks, 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 edit

After retiring from professional football in 2004, Müller worked as a television football commentator.[1]

Personal life edit

Müller's brother, Cocada, was also a footballer.[5]

Career statistics edit

Club edit

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[6]
Club Season League
Division Apps Goals
São Paulo 1984 Série A 0 0
1985 15 4
1986 30 11
1987 15 10
1988 0 0
Total 60 25
Torino 1988–89 Serie A 31 11
1989–90 Serie B 27 11
1990–91 Serie A 7 2
Total 65 24
São Paulo 1991 Série A 7 3
1992 17 5
1993 12 3
1994 5 2
Total 41 18
Kashiwa Reysol 1994 Football League 13 3
1995 J1 League 11 5
Total 24 8
Palmeiras (loan) 1995 Série A 20 8
São Paulo 1996 Série A 20 11
Perugia 1996–97 Serie A 6 0
Santos 1997 Série A 27 10
Cruzeiro 1998 Série A 22 5
1999 16 2
2000 2 0
Total 40 7
Corinthians (loan) 2000 Série A 6 1
São Paulo 2001 Série A 0 0
São Caetano 2001 Série A 15 4
2002 0 0
Total 15 4
Tupi 2003 0 0
Portuguesa Desportos 2003 Série B 7 1
Ipatinga 2004 Série C 0 0
Career total 331 112

International edit

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Brazil 1986 12 1
1987 10 2
1988 3 1
1989 3 0
1990 7 3
1991 1 1
1992 2 0
1993 12 4
1994 4 0
1995 0 0
1996 0 0
1997 1 0
1998 1 0
Total 56 12

Honours edit

São Paulo

Torino

Palmeiras

Cruzeiro

Corinthians

Brazil U20

Brazil

Individual

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Campeão mundial, ex-jogador Muller mora de favor e vive dificuldade financeira" [World Cup winner, former footballer Muller lives in financial difficulty] (in Portuguese). Esporte UOL. May 14, 2011.
  2. ^ "FIFA".
  3. ^ Harris, Daniel (April 28, 2020). "France edge Brazil in World Cup 1986 quarter-final – as it happened". The Guardian.
  4. ^ "FIFA".
  5. ^ Costa, Fabrício (February 13, 2008). "LEMBRA DELE? Cocada, o carrasco do Fla". Globo.com (in Portuguese). Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  6. ^ Müller at National-Football-Teams.com

External links edit