26 PHILIPP LAHM
Pep’s favourite player says that 7-1 was all Sweden’s fault. By Oliver Trust
You were a ball boy for Bayern Munich before joining the club as a player. What was that like? Oh, that’s a long time ago! I got lucky, because you normally had to be a member of the club. My first game was actually my biggest, and it didn’t even involve Bayern: the 1997 Champions League Final between Borussia Dortmund and Juventus. What a way to start! It was amazing – I was part of top-class football from an early age. I stood on the sidelines only a few metres away from the action, and the pace of the game was incredible. It was a lot of fun, even when a player would get annoyed if he thought we took too long in returning the ball.
How important to your development were your two years with Stuttgart? That was my breakthrough. Bayern wanted to see whether I was capable of playing at the highest level, and I even played Champions League football with Stuttgart. I proved that I could cope with the added pressure.
Bayern were big favourites to win the 2012 Champions League Final against Chelsea at Munich’s Allianz Arena. Was there any complacency? The chance to play such an important final in your own arena doesn’t come around too often. We were playing well and dominating the game. It was just bad luck to concede from a set-piece in the 88th minute, then even worse luck to lose the penalty shootout. But it had nothing to do with complacency.
How do you compare Bayern’s 2013 outfit to the fellow treble-winning sides of Barcelona in 2015, Inter in 2010 and Manchester United in ’99? I would say that Bayern team’s heart and soul were homegrown players, to go with a top-quality squad. They gave it a face and a direction. Look at Manchester United with the Class of ’92 – players who grew up there and identified with the club. It was the same at Barcelona, where many players came through La Masia. Inter’s 2010 team also had many homegrown players and top individuals around them. Bayern in 2013 were the same.
Pep Guardiola once described you as the most intelligent player that he had ever worked with. What was your relationship like? It was special. I often joined him in his office to look at videos. He always studied the various situations in a multitude of different ways to find out how they, or a particular pass, would affect our game. And then he looked at the alternative solutions and what they might have led to. Every pass or move on the pitch could be interpreted in many ways.
What did it mean to you to play in a home World Cup for Germany and score the tournament’s first goal? That’s definitely my most famous goal, made even more special because millions were watching from around the world and I scored it in my home city, Munich.
Tell us about Die Mannschaft’s 7-1 obliteration of Brazil in the 2014 World Cup semi-final. It was simply one of those days where everything we tried worked, and everything they tried didn’t. A year or two earlier, we had thrown away a four-goal lead at home to Sweden, so we didn’t let up this time. We didn’t feel sad for the Brazilians. We still treated them with respect, though you could sense that they came apart after the third goal.
And the final, against Argentina at the Maracana? What are your lasting memories of that? When Mario Gotze’s goal finally arrived in extra time, it was a massive relief. Perhaps the most memorable moment for me was actually when the plane landed back in Berlin, and specifically just before the doors opened. As captain, I was holding the World Cup in my hands, waiting to step off the plane. I was very moved, knowing that I was literally bringing the trophy back home to Germany. You were never sent off in your career. What’s the secret to getting on the right side of the referee? Do you send them Christmas cards? [Laughs] I only send Christmas cards to my friends and family! I just try to obey the rules, and always accept the referee as the person directing the game. Wrong decisions are part of it. I wait for a quiet minute to talk to the ref and say what I feel about a certain decision. Maybe that’s why some sort of respect has developed.
That’s it?! Yes. Well, maybe it’s also a good idea not to be too late with your tackles!
What’s the one thing you most enjoy doing now that you’ve retired? Getting up on a Saturday or a Sunday without having to rush, and then having a nice breakfast. A family day at the weekend is something we hadn’t had for a very long time, so that, for me, is heaven at the moment.