Zee Media Media/Dattaraj Thaly
New Delhi: There is no doubt the right word to describe Germany`s Thomas Muller is unorthodox. He does not score perfect goals, makes no attempt to display fancy footwork and doesn`t have a memorable goal celebration. Yet, he is efficient and gets the job done.
The key to Muller`s success has been his ability to be present at the right place at the right time. Despite not being a natural striker, he just knows when is the right time to get inside the box. Once he knows that, he does whatever it takes to get there, even it does not appear beautiful.
Muller has all the attributes to succeed in the position he plays for Germany. He is a strong, plays with both feet and is extremely agile. He can score the easy tap-ins like the game against Brazil, and shoot accurately from outside the box as he did against USA. They say, a striker should be selfish. But Muller is not. He likes to bring his teammates into play as often as possible.
For a manager, having someone like Muller in the team is a dream. The Bayern Munich man can play on the right, left and up top as a typical center-forward. If deployed behind the striker, he can be dangerous in the hole as well. One thing everybody has noticed about him is his work rate, which is second to none. Each game, Muller works his socks off for the team. Sometimes he may not be among the goals or struggling to finish despite having chances, but his team is assured that he won`t sulk and in fact give it his all.
Argentina`s defenders will have a tough time in dealing with a predator like Muller. He is always ready to pounce on the lose ball and is decisive when it comes to shooting on goal. The South-Americans do not have a leader at the back and they have shown signs of weakness when put under severe pressure. Muller will be breathing down their necks at every moment and he is bound to make life difficult for the likes of Garay.
At the young age of 24, Muller has already scored 10 World Cup goals. He won the Golden Boot and the young player of the tournament in 2010 FIFA World Cup. Joachim Loew must also get a fair amount of credit for creating a system that allows Muller to thrive. MiroSlav Klose went past Ronaldo`s all-time World Cup goals record in this edition of the tournament. With just 6 goals behind and plenty of playing time ahead of him, Muller could bridge that gap further against Argentina in the final.
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