Lothar Matthäus

Lothar Matthäus
Lothar Matthäus (2019)
Personnel
Surname	Lothar Herbert Matthäus
birthday	March 21, 1961
place of birth	Erlangen ,  Germany
size	174 cm
position	Central midfield Libero
Juniors
Years	station
1971-1979	1. FC Herzogenaurach
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1978-1979	1. FC Herzogenaurach	22 (20)
1979-1984	Borussia Monchengladbach	162 (36)
1984-1988	FC Bayern Munich	113 (57)
1988-1992	Inter Milan	115 (40)
1992-2000	FC Bayern Munich	189 (28)
2000	MetroStars	16 0(0)
2018	1. FC Herzogenaurach	1 0(0)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1979	Germany U18	9 0(3)
1979-1981	Germany B	4 0(1)
1979-1983	Germany U21	15 0(2)
1980-2000	Germany	150 (23)
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
2001-2002	SK Rapid Vienna
2002-2003	FK Partizan Belgrade
2004-2005	Hungary
2006	Athletico Paranaense
2006-2007	FC Red Bull Salzburg (assistant coach)
2008-2009	Maccabi Netanya
2010-2011	Bulgaria
1 Only league games are given.

Lothar Herbert Matthäus (born March 21, 1961 in Erlangen ) is a former German football player , coach and expert on television.

He began his career in the men's division in 1978 in the Landesliga Mitte at 1. FC Herzogenaurach , for whom he had already played in his youth. The following year he moved to the Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach . At the age of 18 and coming from amateur football, he quickly became a regular player in the Fohlen-Elf and played almost 200 competitive games for the club in five years. In 1984 he came to FC Bayern Munich for the first time . In the four seasons for Munich he was three times German champion and won the DFB Cup in 1985/86 . He then went abroad for the first time; to Italy to Inter Milan . Again he completed four seasons, this time in Serie A , in which he won the championship title in 1988/89 and the 1990/91 UEFA Cup with the team. During his time with the Nerazzurri , his individual sporting performance in football culminated with receiving the Ballon d'Or in 1990 and being named the first FIFA World Player of the Year by FIFA in 1991; in addition, he was declared footballer of the year in Germany in 1990 . In 1992 he returned to Germany and FC Bayern. He won four German championships with the team, two DFB Cup victories and the UEFA Cup in 1995/96 , and in 1999 he was again Footballer of the Year in Germany. In the spring of 2000, shortly before his 39th birthday, he went abroad again and joined the MetroStars in Major League Soccer for a season before ending his active career at the beginning of 2001 after more than 22 years.

Matthäus is one of the most important players in the German national team . From 1979 to 1983 he was active in the U-selections of the Federal Republic, from 1980 he was also used for the A-selection. He played his first game at the 1980 European Championship in Italy , which his team ultimately won. From 1982 Matthäus was a top performer in the national team. He took part in the World Championships in Spain in 1982 , in Mexico in 1986 , in Italy in 1990 , in the United States in 1994 and in France in 1998 ; at the European Championships in France in 1984 , in his own country in 1988 and in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2000 . His most significant sporting success with the selection is winning the 1990 World Cup. With five World Cup tournaments played, Matthäus is one of three players who have achieved this mark. In addition, he is the sole record holder with 25 appearances at world championships. From 1987 to 1994 he was team captain and, with 150 international appearances, is the record selection player in his nation.

After his playing career, he worked from 2001 to 2011 as a coach in Austria , Serbia and Montenegro , Brazil and Israel and as national coach for the A-selection of Hungary and Bulgaria . He then went to television and mainly works as a conversation partner for live soccer broadcasts for the pay-TV channel Sky .

youth

Matthäus grew up in the small town of Herzogenaurach in Central Franconia . At the age of nine, Matthäus started playing soccer at the local 1. FC Herzogenaurach and went through the club's youth department. After finishing school, an apprenticeship as an interior decorator followed . At the age of 18 he became a German national youth player.

Career as a player

Breakthrough in Gladbach and jump into the national team

In the summer of 1979, 18-year-old Matthäus was signed by the first division club Borussia Mönchengladbach . Here he immediately prevailed under his trainer and sponsor Jupp Heynckes and made the jump into the starting line-up in the central midfield. In his first season, Matthäus reached the final of the UEFA Cup with the team , which was lost to Eintracht Frankfurt .

National coach Jupp Derwall nominated Matthäus into the squad for the 1980 European Football Championship in Italy . Matthäus made his international debut in the tournament that the German national team won when he came on as a substitute on June 14, 1980 in Naples when he was 3-0 in the group game against the Netherlands in the 73rd minute. The Mönchengladbacher caused a penalty in the 79th minute; the game ended in a narrow 3-2 win. This was Matthäus' only appearance in the tournament, also because Bernd Schuster played an outstanding tournament as playmaker in the same position .

In the following years he played with Gladbach mostly in the midfield of the league and confirmed his status as a national player through constant performances. In 1982 he was part of the DFB team at the World Cup in Spain . Although Germany was runner-up in the world championship (1: 3 defeat in the final against Italy ), the final round was not satisfactory for Matthäus personally, he was substituted on twice in the preliminary round and was not used in the next few games. Coach Derwall had reconciled with Paul Breitner , who returned to the team and took over the role in central midfield.

1983/84 Mönchengladbach played a strong season, the team reached third place in the table and moved into the DFB Cup final , in which they met FC Bayern Munich . Matthäus had now signed a contract with Bayern Munich for the new season and announced this change before the final. Thus the final took place between his old and his new club. In the penalty shoot-out  - after regular playing time it was 1: 1 - he missed his penalty. Also Norbert Ringels missed and the Bayern won the cup (6: 7. N E.).

In 1984 he played his third major tournament at the European Championships in France . Matthäus had fought for a regular place in the group stage, but a weak German team did not make it through the preliminary round. In addition, during the course of the tournament, together with his Gladbach club colleague Hans-Günter Bruns, he was the first DFB player to be sentenced to a fine (1000 DM ) because he had secretly left his quarters at night and had been recognized in a restaurant.

First title and breakthrough in the national team

In the summer of 1984, FC Bayern Munich paid a transfer fee of DM 2.4 million to Mönchengladbach for Matthäus. The expectations of him were high, because the team had just lost their top players with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and a year earlier with Paul Breitner . The resulting gap in midfield should now be closed by Matthäus. Coach Udo Lattek formed a new team and Matthäus developed under him into a midfielder of international stature. As a game designer and driver, Matthäus led the team to the 1985 championship in its first season . In 1986 he was again German champion with Bayern and also won the DFB Cup .

The new DFB team boss Franz Beckenbauer gave Matthäus more responsibility in the national team. In the summer of 1986, Matthäus drove to Mexico for the World Cup as a regular player . There he formed a duo in the central midfield with the experienced Felix Magath . In the round of 16 against Morocco , Matthäus scored a 1-0 win with a 30-meter free kick three minutes before the end. After victories over Mexico and France , the German team moved into the World Cup final, in which they met Argentina . Matthäus was commissioned by Beckenbauer to guard the Argentine star Diego Maradona . Germany lost 2: 3 and became vice world champion like in 1982.

With the German championship in 1987 , Matthäus completed the title hat trick with Bayern and made it to the final of the European Cup , in which the team lost 2-1 to FC Porto . Before that, on March 25, 1987, Matthäus led the national team for the first time as captain on the field.

In spring 1988 Lothar Matthäus announced his move to Inter Milan . The top Italian club paid a transfer fee of DM 8.4 million for Matthäus. Before that, Matthäus was captain of the DFB-Elf for the first time in a major tournament at the European Championship finals in 1988 in his own country, which lost 2-1 to the Netherlands in the semi- finals.

World champion in Italy and at the height of his career

Under Inter's coach Giovanni Trapattoni , Matthäus continued to develop as a player and leader. In the Italian Serie A , which was considered the strongest league in the world at the time, he made the leap to world star. At the end of his first season in Italy, he won the Italian championship with Inter in 1989 - Inter had not won a championship for nine years - and was considered the best player in the league alongside Diego Maradona .

The following year the 1990 World Cup took place in Italy. Matthäus directed the German midfield and scored four goals. Germany reached a World Cup final for the third time in a row, in which Argentina was defeated 1-0. 1990 was the high point of Matthäus' career, who received four personal awards that year: Germany's footballer of the year , Europe's footballer of the year , (unofficial) world footballer and world athlete of the year.

The winning streak also continued in the club. Inter defeated in the final of the UEFA Cup in 1991 to AS Roma , where Matthew scored a goal. He was also named the first official FIFA World Player of the Year . A few months after this success - Matthäus had reached an agreement with Juventus Turin about a club change - he tore a cruciate ligament on April 12, 1992 in the game against Parma . The DFB captain therefore had to cancel his participation in the 1992 European Championship , in which Germany lost to Denmark in the final . Inter did not expect his return until the end of the year at the earliest. After an operation at Richard Steadman's in Vail ( Colorado ) in the USA , Matthäus trained “secretly” in the mountains and worked several hours a day for his comeback. Juventus withdrew their offer due to the injury. For that Bayern Munich showed interest, and following a bid of 4.2 million German marks detachment Matthew moved in August 1992 back to Bayern Munich. The condition of Inter-President Pellegrini's approval of this change was also Matthew's written declaration that he would not play for any other Italian club in the future.

Return to Germany and change to the libero position

On September 19, 1992, five months after his cruciate ligament rupture, Matthäus made his comeback in the Bundesliga . On November 21, he scored the goal of the year in the game at Bayer 04 Leverkusen . The 1993 championship was narrowly missed behind Werder Bremen.

In November 1993, Lothar Matthäus became the German national record player: With his 104th appearance, he passed Franz Beckenbauer and holds the record with a total of 150 international matches to this day. After weak performances by the DFB-Elf on a trip to North America, national coach Berti Vogts reacted to the poor defense performance and rebuilt his system. Matthäus was ordered back from central midfield and played Libero from now on , Andreas Möller was supposed to close the gap in midfield. Soon Matthäus became the new Libero at Bayern. This change paid off as he was able to influence the game from this position. So he continued to intervene in the offensive game by initiating attacks and counter-chances. In 1994, Franz Beckenbauer, as an interim coach, led Bayern back to the German championship after four years .

Matthäus' opening goal with a penalty in the 1994 World Cup quarter-finals against Bulgaria

In the summer of 1994, Matthäus flew for the second time at a World Cup as captain of the national team for the World Cup in the USA. Germany was sovereign group winners, but the German defense was extremely vulnerable. When he won the round of 16 (3-2 over Belgium), Matthäus had to stay in the locker room at half-time. In the quarter-finals came the early end against Bulgaria; Matthäus had initially put his team in the lead with a penalty, a double strike by the Bulgarians meant they were eliminated.

Lothar Matthäus (1995)

Matthäus stayed true to his bad luck with injuries: in early 1995 he tore his Achilles tendon in a friendly game , which forced him to take a break for several months. The lack of their head of defense made itself felt at Bayern, for whom the 1994/95 season was disappointing. At the end of 1995, Matthäus returned, although some critics suspected that at the age of 34 he would not be in top form after this second serious injury. But Matthäus fought his way back and found his old strength. In 1996 Bayern defeated Girondins Bordeaux in the final of the UEFA Cup and Matthäus won this competition for the second time.

Since Matthäus had not resigned from the national team, it was expected that he would be nominated for the European Championship in 1996 . But he had fallen out with national coach Vogts, whose closest confidante in the team was now captain Jürgen Klinsmann . A conflict situation prevailed between Matthäus and Klinsmann, who at that time played at Bayern Munich - as they had previously played at Inter Milan - in the same club. In the summer of 1996, Matthäus published a "secret diary" in the picture in which he made internal information about the FC Bayern team, especially Klinsmann, public. This led to his dismissal as captain of Bayern Munich. Unimpressed by the criticism of himself, Matthäus went back to his level of performance in the following years. In 1997 he won his fifth championship under coach Trapattoni . After Matthias Sammer's injury-related cancellation of the 1998 World Cup and a campaign by the Bild newspaper in favor of Matthäus, Berti Vogts brought him back to the DFB squad shortly before the tournament. He played an international match for the first time in almost three and a half years.

Fifth World Cup participation and slow career end

Matthew in the national team jersey (1999)

At the age of 37, Matthäus took part in the 1998 World Cup in France for the fifth and last time in a World Cup. When Matthäus came on as a substitute in the second group game after falling 2-0 against Yugoslavia at half-time, the German team drew 2-2. He was in the starting eleven against Iran and Germany won the group. In the round of 16 against Mexico , Matthäus played Libero again. Germany reached the quarter-finals, in which the surprise team from Croatia threw them 0: 3 out of the tournament. It was Matthäus' last World Cup game, where he set a new and still valid world record with his 25th appearance.

In the same year Erich Ribbeck took over the post of national coach and persuaded Matthäus to continue his career in the national team. With Ottmar Hitzfeld , a new coach had taken over the direction of the club, who also relied on the veteran. Matthew played at the age of 38 years, a season at a high level and was 1999 to Germany's Footballer of the Year selected while Bayern won the league title. Bayern experienced a shock when they lost 2-1 to Manchester United after a 1-0 lead in the final of the UEFA Champions League final . Matthäus had himself replaced shortly before the end because of the believed victory. For the second time in his career he was denied success in Europe's premier class. He played his last competitive game for Bayern on March 8, 2000 in the Champions League game against Real Madrid , which was won 4-1.

He then moved to Major League Soccer for the New York Metro Stars . There he played from March to September 2000 and reached the play-off games with the team .

Matthäus was appointed to the EM 2000 squad by coach Ribbeck . He also announced that he would be eliminated from the national team after the tournament. After the bad performance of the German team - they were eliminated in the preliminary round - Matthäus was heavily criticized in the press, the move to the USA was a mistake, there he had reduced significantly. The last group game against Portugal , which was lost 3-0, was his last of a total of 150 internationals. He was active in the national team for over 20 years, longer than any other German national player, and has so far been the only German national player to take part in five world championships. His international record was broken in 2010 by Jari Litmanen , who played for Finland for 21 years .

In 2001, Matthäus began a career as a coach at SK Rapid Vienna . Four years later, on May 13, 2005, he played again for a game for 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig in the city cup semi-finals.

At the age of 57, Matthäus played a league game on May 13, 2018 for his youth club 1. FC Herzogenaurach, which on the penultimate match day was already the champion of the seventh-class district league Middle Franconia North. In the 3-0 win against SpVgg Hüttenbach-Simmelsdorf, he was substituted after 50 minutes of play. It has always been his wish to make his last competitive game for his youth club.

Season statistics

society	league	season	league		Nat. Cup		European Cup		Other		total
			Games	Gates	Games	Gates	Games	Gates	Games	Gates	Games	Gates
1. FC Herzogenaurach	National league	1978/79	22nd	20th	-	-	-	-	-	-	22nd	20th
total			22nd	20th	-	-	-	-	-	-	22nd	20th
Borussia Monchengladbach	Bundesliga	1979/80	28	4th	2	0	11	2	-	-	41	6th
		1980/81	33	10	5	2	-	-	-	-	38	12
		1981/82	33	3	5	4th	4th	1	-	-	42	8th
		1982/83	34	8th	5	2	-	-	-	-	39	10
		1983/84	34	11	6th	4th	-	-	-	-	40	15th
total			162	36	23	12	15th	3	-	-	200	51
FC Bayern Munich	Bundesliga	1984/85	33	16	6th	0	5	1	-	-	44	17th
		1985/86	23	10	5	2	3	0	-	-	31	12
		1986/87	31	14th	3	1	7th	4th	-	-	41	19th
		1987/88	26th	17th	4th	3	4th	1	-	-	34	21st
total			113	57	18th	6th	19th	6th	-	-	150	69
Inter Milan	Series A	1988/89	32	9	7th	3	5	0	-	-	34	21st
		1989/90	25th	11	2	2	2	0	-	-	29	13
		1990/91	31	16	3	1	12	6th	-	-	46	23
		1991/92	27	4th	5	1	2	0	-	-	34	5
total			115	40	17th	7th	21st	6th	-	-	153	53
FC Bayern Munich	Bundesliga	1992/93	28	8th	-	-	-	-	-	-	28	8th
		1993/94	33	8th	3	1	4th	1	-	-	40	10
		1994/95	16	5	2	0	6th	0	1	0	25th	5
		1995/96	19th	1	-	-	7th	0	-	-	26th	1
		1996/97	28	1	3	0	2	0	-	-	33	1
		1997/98	25th	3	3	0	5	0	2	0	35	3
		1998/99	25th	1	5	0	12	1	2	0	44	2
		1999/00	15th	1	2	0	9	0	2	0	28	1
total			189	28	18th	1	45	2	7th	0	259	31
NY / NJ Metro Stars	MLS	2000	16	0	2	0	-	-	5	0	23	0
total			16	0	2	0	-	-	5	0	23	0
1. FC Herzogenaurach	District League	2017/18	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	0
total			1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	0
Career total			618	181	78	26th	100	17th	12	0	808	224

Trainer

Lothar Matthäus (2002)

Since the 2001/02 season, Matthäus worked as a coach for several teams .

Rapid Vienna

His first stop was SK Rapid Wien (September 6, 2001 to May 10, 2002). With the Viennese he reached eighth place in the table - the worst position for the club since the introduction of the Austrian championship in 1911. He was then dismissed for publicly damaging statements to the association without his remaining salary being paid. An attempt by Matthäus to sue the club for the salary and additional money due to damage to its reputation (a total of approx. 2 million euros) failed.

Partizan Belgrade

His next coaching position was Partizan (December 22, 2002 to December 13, 2003). He led the Belgrade team to the championship in Serbia-Montenegro and then qualified with the team for the Champions League (including via Newcastle United ).

National coach of Hungary

From January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2005, Matthäus was the national coach of the Hungarian national football team . During this time, Matthäus was able to achieve a respectable success when Hungary defeated the DFB selection 2-0 in an international match on the 50th anniversary of the 1954 World Cup final in Bern on June 6, 2004 in Kaiserslautern. The qualification for the 2006 World Cup in Germany was missed after a fourth place in the qualification group .

In 2005, Matthäus worked for the TV broadcaster RTL II as the coach of the amateur team Borussia Banana .

Athletico Paranaense in Brazil

From February 2006 he briefly coached the Brazilian first division club Athletico Paranaense in Curitiba and announced his resignation after just over a month for family reasons during a home holiday in Europe. Shortly before, Matthäus had to accept a 30-day ban due to a referee insult.

Red Bull Salzburg

In May 2006 he signed a contract with FC Red Bull Salzburg and worked as an assistant coach at Giovanni Trapattoni 's side until the board of directors ended the collaboration on June 12, 2007 due to "differing views".

Maccabi Netanya in Israel

In mid-April 2008, Matthäus signed a two-year contract with the Israeli first division club Maccabi Netanja . He started his new coaching position in July 2008. At the end of April 2009, Maccabi Netanja announced that the contract with Lothar Matthäus, dated until 2010, would be terminated at the end of the season. According to official information, the reason for this was the economic situation of the association. Maccabi Netanja finished fourth in the table in the 2008/09 season.

In June 2009 Matthäus was courted by the Hungarian club FC Fehérvár , who offered him a two-year contract with an option for a third year, in October 2009 by the Argentine club Racing Club Avellaneda . But Matthäus could not agree on a contract with any of the clubs.

After the early failure of the Cameroonian national team at the 2010 World Cup, Matthäus was shortlisted as the successor to the resigned national coach Paul Le Guen . The association refrained from making an obligation.

National coach of Bulgaria

In September 2010, Matthäus took over the Bulgarian national team as the successor to Stanimir Stoilow . He was given a one-year contract with an option for two more years. Matthäus coached Bulgaria for the first time in the European Championship qualifier on October 8, 2010 against Wales, which Bulgaria won 1-0. After Bulgaria finished last in the qualification group and missed the European Championship qualification, Matthäus was sacked on September 19, 2011.

Columnist and TV expert work

Lothar Matthäus with Markus Lanz (2012)

In addition to and between his coaching engagements, Matthäus works as a regular columnist for Sport Bild (since 2001) and works as a TV expert worldwide (for the pay-TV channel Premiere , especially at the 2002 and 2006 World Championships, for ZDF at the 2004 European Championship, for Eurosport at the 2008 European Championship, for the Arab TV channel Al Jazeera at the 2010 World Cup and 2014 World Cup and for Das Erste at the 2012 European Championship). At the EM 2016 in France, Matthäus commented on the tournament for the English broadcaster ITV and worked as an expert for Turkish and Chinese media platforms.

Since the beginning of the Bundesliga season 2012/13 he has worked as an expert at the pay TV broadcaster Sky Deutschland u. a. active in the weekly top game of the week. As such, he has been a permanent expert on the football talk show Wontorra - the football talk on Sky Sport News HD - since the 2018/19 Bundesliga season .

In England, Matthew writes a weekly tactics column in The Sun newspaper .

In 2017, Matthäus received the German Sports Journalist Award as the most cited football expert. In addition, he was officially inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Deutsche Sporthilfe Foundation on May 26, 2017 . Franz Beckenbauer gave the laudatory speech at the acceptance ceremony .

Private

Marriages

Matthew married five women and has four children.

• 1981–1992 marriage to Sylvia, two daughters.
• 1994–1999 Marriage to Swiss Lolita Morena , one son (* 1992).
• 2003–2008 marriage to Marijana Kostić from Serbia.
• 2009–2011 marriage with the Ukrainian Kristina Liliana Čudinova, divorced on February 2, 2011.
• Since 2014, Matthäus has been married to Anastasia Klimko, who is 27 years his junior from Russia. The couple has a son (born April 2014).

Matthäus has his main residence in Budapest .

Television appearances

Together with Joanna Tuczyńska, Matthäus had a guest role in the television series Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahnpolizei , in which he played himself in March 2012 . In the spring of 2012, Matthäus was accompanied by a camera team from the German TV station VOX , who shot the six-part personality documentary Lothar - Always on the Ball , which was broadcast from June 24, 2012.

Success as a player

National championships

• German champion (7): 1985 , 1986 , 1987 , 1994 , 1997 , 1999 , 2000 with FC Bayern Munich
• Italian champion (1): 1989
• East American Champion (1): 2000
• Champion of the District League Middle Franconia North: 2018 with 1. FC Herzogenaurach

National cup competitions

• DFB Cup winner (2): 1986 and 1998
• DFB Supercup winner (1): 1987
• DFB League Cup winners (3): 1997 , 1998 , 1999

each with FC Bayern Munich

• Italian Supercup Winner (1): 1989

European cup competitions

• Uefa cup
  • Winner (2): 1991 with Inter Milan, 1996 with FC Bayern Munich
  • Finalist (1): 1980 with Borussia Mönchengladbach
• European Cup / UEFA Champions League finalist (2): 1987 , 1999 with FC Bayern Munich

National team

• World Champion (1): 1990
• Vice World Champion (2): 1982 , 1986
• European Champion (1): 1980
• US Cup (1): 1993

Success as a trainer

Club teams

• Serbian Champion (1): 2003 with FK Partizan Belgrade
• Austrian Champion (1): 2007 with FC Red Bull Salzburg (together with Giovanni Trapattoni )

Awards

International

• World Player of the Year: 1990 ( unofficial ) , 1991 ( FIFA World Player )
• European Footballer of the Year : 1990, 2nd place in 1991
• Europe's Sportsman of the Year : 1990
• World Player of the Year : 1990
• Onze d'or : 1990
• World Championship Silver Ball : 1990
• Admission to FIFA 100 (2004)
• Golden Foot (2012)

National

• Germany's footballer of the year : 1990, 1999
• Man of the year in German football : 1999
• VDV player of the year : 1999
• Inter Player of the Year : 1991
• Kicker Idol of the Year : 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994
• Kicker Midfielder of the Year : 1983
• Kicker Libero of the Year : 1994, 1998, 1999
• Bavarian Order of Merit 2001
• Silver bay leaf 1990
• Honorary captain of the German national team (April 27, 2001)
• Goal of the Year : 1990, 1992
• Goal of the Month : June 1990, December 1990, November 1992, August 1998
• Classification as world class in the ranking of German football : summer 1986 , summer 1990 , winter 1990/91 , summer 1991 , summer 1999
• Admission to the Hall of Fame of German Sports 2017
• Admission to the first eleven of the " Hall of Fame of German Football " of the German Football Museum 2018
• Member of the Hall of Fame of FC Bayern Munich
• Honorary Award of the DFL 2019
• German Sports Journalist Award 2017 as the "most cited football expert"
• At his hometown club 1. FC Herzogenaurach , Matthäus was made an honorary member in 2017 and a sports field was named after him.

Records

• Since November 17, 1993 he has been a record international player for the DFB , on that day, with his 104th international match (Germany - Brazil 2-1), he exceeded the mark submitted by Franz Beckenbauer on February 23, 1977. On February 23, 2000 he outbid Thomas Ravelli's European record with his 144th game and remained a record-breaking European player until August 22, 2007 with 150 games. He was replaced by Martin Reim (Estonia).
• Matthäus took part in five world championships and holds the record of most World Cup appearances with his participation in 25 World Cup games .
• He is the oldest player to date to have played in the German national team. At his last international match, Matthew was 39 years old. At 38 years and 128 days, he is also the national team's oldest goalscorer. He scored his last goal on July 28, 1999 at the Confederations Cup in Mexico against New Zealand to make it 2-0.

Penalty trivia

• Until June 25, 2005, Matthäus was the national team's top penalty taker with eight penalty goals, before being outdone by Michael Ballack .
• Matthäus had already announced his move from Mönchengladbach to Bayern before the final between Bayern Munich and Mönchengladbach in the 1983/84 DFB Cup . The final took place between his old and his new club. In the decisive penalty shoot-out, Matthäus shot his penalty over the goal for Mönchengladbach, and FC Bayern won the cup.
• In the 1998/99 DFB Cup final against Werder Bremen , Matthäus did not initially appear on penalties. Only when it was still a tie after the first five shooters did he agree to take a penalty as the sixth shooter. Bremen goalkeeper Frank Rost saved the penalty and Bremen won the cup. Lothar Matthäus is the only player to date to have missed twice on penalties in a DFB Cup final.
• In the 1990 World Cup final against Argentina, Matthäus broke the sole of his shoe. During the break he therefore had to put on a new pair of unbroken shoes. When there was a penalty for Germany in the 85th minute when the score was 0-0, Matthäus was actually the shooter (he had already converted a penalty in the quarter-finals and in the semi-finals). However, according to his own statements, he felt unsafe because of the change of shoes and left the ball to Andreas Brehme , which then transformed him and brought Germany the world championship title.

criticism

In July 2018, as part of the 2018 World Cup in Russia , Matthäus met with the controversial Russian President Vladimir Putin , which sparked criticism in some media. Matthäus defended his meeting with Putin, however, saying that it was about the World Cup and not about politics. In addition, Matthäus explained: “Sport connects people from different countries and cultures and can help to build bridges and promote dialogues. That is better than foreclosure, boycott and not talking to each other anymore. "

See also

• List of football players with at least 100 international matches
• List of record European football players
• List of captains of the German national soccer team

literature

• Lothar Matthäus, Martin Häusler: All or not - autobiography , Bastei Lübbe , Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-7857-2467-5 .

Web links

Commons : Lothar Matthäus  - Collection of Images

Wikiquote: Lothar Matthäus  - Quotes

• Lothar Matthaus in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Literature by and about Lothar Matthäus in the catalog of the German National Library
• The official website of Lothar Matthäus
• Statistics on Lothar Matthäus at dfb.de.
• Statistics on Lothar Matthäus at transfermarkt.de
• Das Leben des Lothar Matthäus , series about Lothar Matthäus on Focus Online (parts [1] , [2] , [3] )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Statistics on the Germany-Netherlands game ; German Football Association , accessed on December 26, 2019.
2. ↑ National emergency or stroke of luck? , Der Tagesspiegel, May 20, 2010.
3. ↑ Lothar Matthäus 1992 changed my life , Sport-Bild from December 29, 1992, p. 12 f.
4. ↑ Lothar Matthäus makes a comeback in the district league. In: sport.de. May 13, 2018, accessed May 13, 2018 . 
5. ↑ Matthäus cancels Fehervar , kicker.de , accessed on June 28, 2009.
6. ↑ Matthäus gives rejection , kicker.de, accessed on October 28, 2009.
7. ↑ I'm actually very simple ; welt.de, accessed on August 2, 2010.
8. ↑ http://topsport.ibox.bg/news/id_854076175
9. ^ Matthew the new coach of Bulgaria ( Memento from October 31, 2010 in the Internet Archive ); Message on news.de.
10. ↑ Message on kicker.de
11. ↑ Matthäus is no longer the Bulgarian national coach , report on welt.de.
12. ↑ Steven Jörgensen: New Wontorra experts - Matthäus and Fjørtoft replace Hamann. sportbild.de, August 23, 2018, accessed on September 28, 2018 . 
13. ↑ Sky experts take turns every week - "Wontorra - the o2 football talk": Matthäus and Fjörtoft new experts. sky.de, 23 August 2018, accessed on 28 September 2018 . 
14. ↑ Matthew is married for the fourth time. In: 20 minutes .
15. ^ Marriage-out: Lothar and Liliana divorced. In: Spiegel Online , February 3, 2011.
16. ↑ In the baroque palace: Lothar Matthäus is married for the 5th time ( memento from November 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
17. ↑ Lothar Matthäus enjoys his life in Budapest. In: sueddeutsche.e , January 25, 2020.
18. ^ Lothar - always on the ball - VOX.de, May 17, 2012
19. ↑ Eleven football legends and a coach icon ( Memento from November 23, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
20. ↑ DFL honors Matthäus, Overath, Rehhagel - and Pizarro , dfl.de, accessed on August 21, 2019
21. ↑ Lothar Matthäus returns to his homeland club. In: sidelines.agency , accessed October 12, 2019.
22. ↑ Player info Ballack dfb.de, accessed on December 26, 2019.
23. ↑ Player info Matthäus dfb.de, accessed on December 26, 2019.
24. ↑ “Meet your hero” with Lothar Matthäus. YouTube, accessed January 21, 2020 . 
25. ↑ Interview with Lothar Matthäus. (No longer available online.) In: FIFA.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013 ; Retrieved July 17, 2009 . 
26. ↑ Double standards debate: Lothar Matthäus explains his photos with Vladimir Putin. sportbuzzer.de, July 8, 2018, accessed November 15, 2018 . 
27. ↑ Matthew gets a shit storm after Putin's photo - and hits back. Huffingtonpost.com , July 9, 2018, accessed November 15, 2018 . 
28. ↑ ^{a b} “It wasn't about politics, but about the World Cup” - Lothar Matthäus defends meeting with Vladimir Putin. sport.de , July 11, 2018, accessed on November 15, 2018 . 
29. ↑ Lothar Matthäus defends himself against criticism of the photo with Vladimir Putin. msn.com, July 8, 2018, accessed November 15, 2018 .