Bayern Munich Greats Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sepp Maier

Choosing a goalkeeper for this squad was probably the hardest task - I could have picked Oliver Kahn or, of course, Manuel Neuer here as well. But both are overshadowed by the legendary Sepp Maier, the player who has tended Munich's goal for a full 17(!) years, 1962 to 1979, racking up 473 Bundesliga appearances (since Bayern's 1965 promotion to the league), an average of 33.78 (out of a possible 34) per season, a record 442 of those consecutively from 1966 to 1979 (that's not missing a single match in 13 years).

Answer: Jérôme Boateng

Born in Berlin, Boateng has a Ghanan father and a German mother. Unlike most of the players in this quiz, he has not had any youth connections to Bayern but rather joined them after a few years in Berlin, Hamburg and Manchester; however since 2011 he has never looked back.

He usually plays a central defense role but can if necessary occupy a defensive wing as well. His style is aggressive and sometimes rough, having netted him not only many spectacular defensive tackles but also a few red cards over his career.

His exceptionally strong defensive record in the 2012/13 season helped push the team to the "triple" in that season - the league title, the domestic cup and the UEFA Champions' League trophy all in one year.

Answer: Franz Beckenbauer

If you ask 100 random non-Germans to name a single German soccer player, "Beckenbauer" would probably be the most common response and rightfully so. At 13 years for Bayern, 103 caps, the 1974 World Cup (as captain) and three European Cup victories, "Der Kaiser" ("the emperor") has been the representative of a whole era. After his retirement as a player, Beckenbauer became a very successful manager as well, leading the German 1990 World Cup squad to another title, making him the first player to win the cup both as team captain and manager. (This feat was since repeated by Didier Deschamps of France).

Beckenbauer has recently gathered quite some negative attention over allegations of irregularities in the awarding of the 2006 World Cup host role to Germany where he was the leader of the bidding and organization committee.

Answer: Philipp Lahm

Probably my favorite player of all time, Lahm has spent all fifteen of his professional years with Bayern (although he was loaned to Stuttgart for two years early on) and was club captain for the last seven of those years. Unlike many top players, he rarely battled injury and, in the 2009/10 season, managed the rare feat of playing the maximum 3060 minutes available in a Bundesliga season (34 matches of 90 minutes), not missing a single minute of that season.

His playing intelligence and leadership often inspired the team, making him an indispensable asset on the pitch.

Answer: Joshua Kimmich

In spite of his relatively short career so far, I have include Kimmich here mostly because he answers the one question implied in the previous question: "How can one ever replace Philipp Lahm?"

After Lahm's retirement from international soccer in 2014, the national team went through a slump, lacking his initiative that would drive the offense forward from their own half. Facing a possible elimination during the Euro 2016 group games, manager Joachim Löw brought in the 21-year-old on Lahm's former position and the experiment proved a success: Kimmich would play every minute of the next 23 international games before sitting out a friendly, a run second only to that of the legendary Berti Vogts.

His club career since Lahm's 2017 withdrawal from the team has pretty much paralleled his national one with an all but perfect attendance record. Kimmich can play almost any position (he was a striker in his youth team), but prefers the midfield role.

Answer: Bastian Schweinsteiger

Playing with Bayern's senior squad for thirteen years before moving on to Manchester and then Chicago for his last active years, Schweinsteiger has been one of the most complete players to ever grace the pitch, being able to fill almost every position although he operated at his most effective when positioned at the center of the field.

He played exactly 500 competitive matches for Bayern as well as earning 121 caps and the 2014 World Cup title.

Answer: Mehmet Scholl

After playing Bundesliga for his native city of Karlsruhe for three years, Scholl was picked up by Bayern Munich in 1992 and he stayed with the club until his retirement fifteen years later, playing 334 games. Even after his active time, he has been active for Munich, first as the manager of the U13 youth team and then, twice, as the second team's manager.

His technique, especially regarding dribblings and free kicks made him one of the most effective midfielders in German soccer history.

Answer: Thomas Müller

As a player who spent his entire senior career with just one club, Müller has been an indispensable part of the team's success in the 2010s, culminating in six consecutive league championships (2013 to 2018) as well as a Champion's League victory in 2013. With the national team, he's won the World Cup in 2014 as well as the leading scorer's honor in 2010.

In spite of his long and successful career, he's not been the regular captain of either the club or the national team however.

Answer: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

Very few players are as closely linked to Munich as Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. He was a prolific scorer, finishing at the top of the Bundesliga's scorer table three times in his ten years. In spite of his performance and long career, he lacks a World Cup victory although he was a member of the runner-up squads of both 1982 and 1986 and became the first player to score in two different World Cup finals during those matches.

Answer: Gerd Müller

With 365 goals over his 15 seasons playing for Bayern, Gerd Müller remains the highest scoring player in the Bundesliga by far, leading the list by almost 100 goals. His key to success was his immense acceleration that often saw him that one needed step ahead of his opponent.

After his active career, Müller supported the club for twelve more years as assistant manager of the second squad.