Germany starlet Thomas Muller has been rewarded for an excellent World Cup campaign by being named the tournament's best young player.
Golden Boot winner delighted to claim World Cup award
Germany starlet Thomas Muller has been rewarded for an excellent World Cup campaign by being named the tournament's best young player.
Muller's five goals in South Africa saw the Bayern Munich attacker finish with the Golden Boot and beat Andre Ayew and Giovani dos Santos to the young player award.
The 20-year-old, who had missed the semi-final defeat by Spain through suspension, was a key figure in Germany finishing third in the World Cup.
He scored a brace in the last 16 thrashing of England, opened the scoring in the quarter-final mauling of Argentina and repeated the trick in the third-placed play-off win over Uruguay.
Muller emulates compatriots Franz Beckenbauer and Lukas Podolski in winning the award and admits it is a 'huge honour'.
Terrific confirmation
"The honour will be with me for all time," said Muller.
"It's a terrific confirmation of the work I've put in over the last year, and it's a huge honour to be part of a group including the likes of Beckenbauer and Pele.
"It also points to the excellent quality of our youth development work in Germany, so I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff at Bayern Munich and the Germany national set-up, and the coaching team, who have always kept faith with me.
"I've really enjoyed my football with the lads here."
However, Muller revealed he will leave South Africa with one regret after Germany were denied a place in the Soccer City final by eventual champions Spain.
He added: "What I really wanted was to win the World Cup as part of a team."
