Müller (footballer, born 1966)

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Corrêa and the second or paternal family name is da Costa.

Müller

Personal information
Full name	Luís Antônio Corrêa da Costa
Date of birth	(1966-01-31) 31 January 1966
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)
1995–1996	→ Palmeiras (loan)	20	(8)
1996	São Paulo	20	(11)
1997	Perugia	6	(0)
1997–1998	Santos	27	(10)
1998–2001	Cruzeiro	43	(9)
2000–2001	→ Corinthians (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

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.

Club career

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.

International career

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. 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.

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.

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

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

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

Personal life

Müller's brother, Cocada, was also a footballer.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

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

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

São Paulo

• São Paulo State League: 1985, 1987, 1991, 1992
• Brazilian League: 1986, 1991
• Copa Libertadores: 1992, 1993
• Intercontinental Cup: 1992, 1993
• Libertadores Supercup: 1993

Torino

• Serie B: 1989–90
• Mitropa Cup: 1991

Palmeiras

• São Paulo State League: 1996
• Copa do Brasil runner-up: 1996

Cruzeiro

• Minas Gerais State League: 1998
• Recopa Sudamericana: 1998
• Brazilian Cup: 2000

Corinthians

• South Minas Cup: 2001

Brazil U20

• FIFA World Youth Championship: 1985

Brazil

• Rous Cup: 1987
• FIFA World Cup: 1994

Individual

• Brazilian League Top Scorer: 1987
• Top player of the Intercontinental Cup's final: 1992
• Bola de Prata: 1997

External links

• Müller at Sambafoot (archived)
• Müller at National-Football-Teams.com
• Müller at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)