MUHAMMAD USMAN AWAN
International career
Müller has represented Germany at various youth levels, starting with the under-16s in 2004. In August 2009 he was called up to the under-21 team for the first time, making his debut in a 3–1 friendly defeat against Turkey. He has so far earned six caps for the under-21s, scoring one goal, the eighth in an 11–0 thrashing of San Marino.
In October of the same year, Müller's regular appearances for Bayern's first team caused German national team coach Joachim Löw to publicly consider him for a call-up, and the following month, he was named in the squad for a friendly against Côte d'Ivoire. However, this coincided with the death of national team goalkeeper Robert Enke, which led to a match against Chile the same week being cancelled. With less opportunity to try out new players, and with the under-21 team facing crucial qualifiers for the 2011 European Championship it was felt by Löw and under-21 coach Rainer Adrion that Müller was needed at that level, and he was called back into the under-21s.
He was back in the senior squad for its next get-together, a training session in Sindelfingen in January 2010, and was named in the squad for the following match, a friendly against Argentina in March. He made his debut in this game, being named in the starting eleven for the match at the Allianz Arena, his home stadium. He was substituted in the 66th minute, replaced by fellow debutant Toni Kroos as Germany lost 1–0.
2010 World Cup
On 6 May, Müller was named in Germany's provisional 27-man squad for the 2010 World Cup, along with seven other Bayern Munich players. Despite suffering a scare when he fell off his bicycle at the team's training camp in South Tirol, Müller only suffered superficial injuries, and made the final cut for the tournament when the squad was reduced to 23 players on 1 June. He was allocated the number 13, normally worn by injured captain Michael Ballack, and previously worn by Müller's namesake Gerd. He earned his second international cap in the final warm-up match before the World Cup, coming on as a half-time substitute for Piotr Trochowski in a 3–1 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. He started the first game of Germany's World Cup campaign, a 4–0 win over Australia and scored his first international goal, the third of the game. He played in all Germany's group games, as they finished top of Group D, and he scored twice and assisted once in the 4–1 victory over England in the round of 16. He scored his fourth goal of the tournament in the quarter final against Argentina, opening the scoring in the third minute as Germany won 4–0. However, having picked up his second booking of the tournament in the second half he missed the semi-final defeat against Spain. He returned to the team for the third-place playoff against Uruguay, scoring the first goal - his fifth of the tournament - as Germany won 3–2 to take the bronze medals. With five goals he ended as joint top goalscorer of the tournament, and his three assists meant that he won the Golden Boot. He also won the Best Young Player Award, ahead of fellow nominees André Ayew of Ghana and Giovani dos Santos of Mexico. In both cases he succeeded a German team-mate, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski having won the respective awards in 2006. In October 2010, he was named on the shortlist for the FIFA Ballon d'Or award, along with four of his Germany team-mates.
Euro 2012
Müller has been in the starting eleven in all of Germany's first four qualifiers for Euro 2012, all of which have ended in victory. Müller has assisted two goals, both for Miroslav Klose, but is yet to score.
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