Past plus present: 5 dream striker pairings at the World Cup
The FIFA World Cup is what dreams are made of. Every professional footballer playing for his country dreams of playing in world football's biggest tournament. Some dream of laying hands on the coveted Jules Rimet trophy. Others dream of scoring that elusive goal. There is a lot of glory and pride to fight for. And you can only win matches by scoring goals.
Fans often fantasize about pairing players from different generations and creating their all-time Dream XIs. Two strikers who would together form the perfect combination for their respective teams. They would provide that cutting edge in attack and plunder goals for fun.
Let's look at 5 dream striker pairings with one player currently playing in Russia and the other from yesteryear World Cups.
#5 Thomas Muller and Gerd Muller (Germany)
The Mullers are not related by blood. But they have a lot in common apart from their surnames. Both have tasted World Cup success with Germany. And both have won the Golden Boot at the biggest stage of them all.
Thomas Muller comes to Russia at the back of two outstanding World Cups. In 2014 his five goals played a major part in Germany winning the trophy. He also won the Silver Ball as well as the Silver Boot in Brazil.
In 2010 also he had scored five goals as Germany finished third. In that World Cup, he won the Golden Boot and the Best Young Player of the tournament award. A return of ten goals in thirteen World Cup matches is every forward's dream come true.
Gerd Muller had already bettered that dream. In the 1970 World Cup, he scored ten goals for West Germany and won the Golden Boot. In 1974, he scored four more goals including the winning goal in the finals. 'Der Bomber', as he was fondly called, held the all-time goal scoring record for World Cups for a good 32 years before being overtaken by Brazil's Ronaldo.
The duo would make for an interesting pairing up front. Gerd Muller was surprisingly short for a footballer but unbelievably quick. As a centre-forward, he was absolutely lethal in the box and despite his height, he could out-jump most defenders. Thomas Muller, on the other hand, loves playing behind a centre-forward. His technique and tactical positioning make him most suited for this role.
So Gerd Muller would play as the number 9 or target man with Thomas Muller just behind him as the number 10.
Notable mention - Jurgen Klinsmann - He scored 11 goals in his 3 World Cups and won the title in 1990 with West Germany.