New York City is absolutely bananas right now. The Knicks just won the NBA title, and the parade turned midtown into a sea of blue and orange. That created a pretty unique problem for Thomas Muller, the German soccer legend who now plays for the Vancouver Whitecaps and happened to be in town.
Muller posted a video on social media showing himself navigating the chaos on a bicycle. He was trying to get to his own training session at a soccer field. But the Knicks celebration had other plans.
“I wanted to go to my training session today, to the soccer field. Took the bike, but I don’t know why, well I struggled a little bit,” Muller said in the clip. “The Knicks are too strong this year. Even the parade is massive. It’s massive.”
The whole thing was funny mostly because Muller played it straight. He started off pretending he had no idea why the streets were packed, then just laughed it off. ESPN FC shared the video on X, and it racked up views fast. Fans loved seeing a World Cup winner get humbled by a bunch of basketball fans waving foam fingers.
Muller is 36 now. He retired from the German national team after Euro 2024, so he’s not playing in this World Cup. But he’s still deeply tied to the tournament’s history. He was part of Germany’s 2014 title-winning squad and won the Golden Boot in 2010 as a young breakout star. He finished his international career with 45 goals and 41 assists in 131 caps. That’s 10 World Cup goals total.
He spent almost his entire club career at Bayern Munich before making the move to MLS. He’s been a pundit for German broadcaster MagentaTV during this World Cup, which explains why he was in New York in the first place. The city is hosting several matches, and Muller is working the tournament for German audiences.
His reaction to the Knicks parade also says something about how he’s adapted to life in North America. Muller has always had a goofy, animated personality on and off the field. He’s the kind of guy who makes jokes in postgame interviews and doesn’t take himself too seriously. That video fits perfectly with his public image.
And hey, he probably felt even better later that day. Germany opened their World Cup campaign by destroying Curacao 7-1. So Muller got to see his old team win big, even if he had to fight through a championship parade to get to work.
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