Muller: People are still thanking us

After playing an integral part in Germany’s triumph at this summer’s 2014 FIFA World Cup™, Thomas Muller has deservedly been recognised for his contributions in the fall-out from their Maracana glory. FIFA.com spoke with him about his memories of the tournament and how the victory has changed his life.

Muller’s love affair with the World Cup had begun four years earlier in South Africa. In what was his first major tournament, the forward helped Germany to a third-place finish, picking up the adidas Golden Boot as leading goalscorer as well as the Best Young Player award. At this year’s edition in Brazil, he was again instrumental as Germany hoisted the Trophy into the night skies of Rio de Janeiro.

 Last week the 25-year-old was officially presented with the adidas Silver Ball by FIFA’s Technical Study Group (TSG) for being the second-best player of Brazil 2014, while his five goals earned him the Silver Boot as second-highest goalscorer.

After the award ceremony, the Bayern Munich star spoke exclusively with FIFA.com about his memories of Brazil, the crucial factors in winning the title and what his latest accolades mean to him.

FIFA.com: How often do you think back to Brazil and that Final in Rio?

Thomas Muller: Actually not that often to be honest; now that the regular season is back in full swing I spend most of my time thinking about the next match. Instead I tend to get reminded of the World Cup in my spare time. There are still people who congratulate you and thank you for making them so happy, and that’s when the memories come flooding back. It was an amazing time and it still feels very recent.

Does joining up with the national team feel special after such a triumph?

Although the atmosphere has always been positive, we’re all happy with what we achieved and the team really earned it. But now we’ve got a new challenge – we’ve got to negotiate the EURO qualifiers again. Playing again is one thing, but it’s also tough in some respects to play and win a World Cup just a month or two earlier and then immediately have to switch to saying “now I’ve got to prove myself in qualifying matches”. But that’s the way the schedule goes, so now we’ve got to focus and go into games with the right attitude to reach France 2016.

What has changed for you personally since winning at the Maracana?

I don’t know if anything has changed, but I’m now a world champion and have realized a huge dream. Nobody can take that title away from me. Otherwise it’s business as usual at Bayern: we’ve got to win every match, just like always, and most of the time we manage it (laughs(.

I’m now a world champion and have realised a huge dream. Nobody can take that title away from me.

What, for you, was the most crucial factor in winning the title?

Winning the Final (laughs). But seriously, that match could just as easily have ended 2-1 or 1-0 to Argentina. At that level, the smallest things can decide a game and you need a little luck. Of course we had fantastic team spirit and worked extremely hard together, both on and off the pitch. We played a close match against France, and had to go to extra time against Algeria. At that level, everyone just gives their all, regardless of what team they’re playing for, as everyone has been extremely well trained by fantastic coaches. There isn’t much difference between sides in that respect, so sometimes individual moves or details can turn games. With that in mind, we had the right players at the right time and also the right amount of luck. Manu [Neuer] played well and we all defended well as a team, and then of course Mario [Gotze] scored a super goal.

You’ve just received your individual awards for your performances at the World Cup. How important are they to you?

Although they’re not especially important for me, it naturally means something as it acknowledges what I achieved. It doesn’t give me any kind of boost for the future; I can’t say “I won the Silver Boot or Ball so that means I’m good”. Instead, I’ve got to keep proving myself all over again. It just shows that our achievement also meant succeeding at an individual level and the awards are a way of recognizing that.

Can you explain how you and Bayern have managed to make such a good start to the season compared to other top teams in the Bundesliga?

We’ve simply got immense quality in our squad, and although that’s no guarantee of results, it is very difficult to beat us. We have so many options when it comes to play and personnel that we can usually score a goal in every match, which gives us a relatively high chance of winning. Of course, we’ve got a couple of injuries but I don’t know whether that’s got more to do with the World Cup or with the general strain of playing at a professional level. The game is getting faster and more physically demanding. That’s why you see more rather than fewer injuries these days, and unfortunately we’ve suffered with a couple too. But we’ve got a good attitude on the pitch and, perhaps most importantly, we’ve got experience with that kind of injury situation.

M.D