Captain, centurion, treble-winner – Philipp Lahm was a lot of things in 2013. Behind him are the twelve most remarkable months of his career, in which he secured trophy after trophy with FC Bayern, successful qualification for the FIFA World Cup and his 100th cap for Germany. He also turned 30 this year, and although he has never been one to get carried away with success, Lahm already has Brazil 2014 in his sights.
DFB.de-Editor Steffen Lüdeke interviewed the FC Bayern stalwart.
DFB.de: Mr. Lahm, you turned 30 this year, won a bunch of trophies and made your 100th international appearance. What do you look back on most fondly from 2013?
Philipp Lahm: I definitely associate this year with the trophies we won at Bayern. We had an amazing season and ended it in an amazing way, and that will stay with me. The treble will also stay with me for years, decades even – I’ll always associate 2013 with it. But that shouldn’t cast a shadow over the other achievements. We’ve been very successful with the national team again, won our qualification group and reached the World Cup with two games to spare. It was a very successful year, from lots of different perspectives.
DFB.de:Winning the Champions League in 2013 showed what a team needs to do to win the major titles. What are the ingredients?
Lahm: The togetherness of the group and team spirit is really important. Everyone needs to be prepared to work for the team and for everyone else. With Bayern – and with the national team – what’s also made us stand out was that we went out on the pitch and played with a high tempo immediately. We play football with conviction and a smile on our faces. Obviously there are tactical instructions that go with that, as well as your footballing abilities and the quality of the players in the squad. But what marks some teams out over others is their will, heart and passion.
DFB.de:In which of those areas did the national team make the most progress in 2013?
Lahm: We can’t get carried away by the games we played and the results we had in qualification. You can only draw certain conclusions from matches against teams like the Faroe Islands, for example. In qualification for a tournament, you’re not stretched like you would be in the tournament itself, where you need to put in top-drawer performances every five days or so. I think we’ve improved in terms of our overall game, probably because a lot of players have more experience than our last tournament in 2012. If you consider a longer period of time and how much we’ve developed since 2010, there are certainly differences in the way we play. Now we don’t wait for the opposition to come out as much, we want to dictate the game ourselves. We play possession football. We’re not reactive, we’re proactive.
DFB.de: Sami Khedira has been an automatic pick at every tournament since 2010, but he injured himself in a friendly game against Italy recently. Do you believe the team is in a position to compensate for his absence?
Lahm: I think that first of all we should wait and see how his injury plays out. I hope he’s free of complication in his recovery and gets the best possible treatment. It was a few years ago now but I did tear a cruciate knee ligament myself, and I know how important it is to stay patient. We’ll have to wait and see how things develop with him, but Sami shouldn’t put himself under too much pressure because of the World Cup. I hope for his sake and ours that he is back in action in time for the tournament. But he shouldn’t take any risks – his health is the priority. Obviously any team will suffer without a player like him, but we have a big squad with a lot of quality. Against England and Italy recently, we had a lot of players unavailable for whatever reason, but we managed to cope without them. Sami is not a player you can replace like for like, but as a team and a group, we can deal with his absence. I’ve always maintained that at a World Cup, it’s not just the eleven players who start that will be needed to win games; every single individual will have to perform. In a tournament, every player does his bit.
DFB.de: During the friendlies against Italy and England, you also began preparing for Brazil 2014, with Cacau teaching you Portuguese. How much of what you’ve learned has stuck?
Lahm: (laughing) It was fun, but to be honest I don’t think I’m going to master the language in time for the World Cup.
DFB.de: But you could learn a few phrases, if only to show respect to your hosts...
Lahm: Luckily I don’t have to sit down and learn those. We have so many international players at our clubs, Brazilians too. I think every national team player can definitely say the odd word or two in Portuguese, like ‘please’, ‘thank you’ and ‘hello’. And I’ve also had the experience that you get to know people when you get there, even if you don’t speak the language that fluently. Communication isn’t just about words, it’s also about signs and gesticulations. We had that experience in South Africa. When we arrived at our training base, we were greeted with dances and celebrations. And eventually every one of us could sing along in the songs, especially the ‘Shosholozo’. If you open yourself up to the mentality of the locals, you can make a real connection with them.
DFB.de: Does the World Cup in 2014 also mean something more for you because it’s in Brazil? Does that make the anticipation even more acute?
Lahm: Brazil is an absolutely football crazy nation with a unique and beautiful footballing history. I’ve had the good fortune of being able to play every World Cup of my career so far in a different continent. Next up is South America and I’m really looking forward to it. You get a taste of a new culture and you get to know different people and their culture. That’s the mindset I’ll have going into the tournament – I want to be open to every new experience. I firmly believe we’ll receive a great welcome in Brazil. The expectation is huge, but there’s still a long way to go until it begins. In March we have our last friendly game, and after that the anticipation will start to build.
DFB.de: You have been Germany captain since 2010. Has the way in which you have performed that role changed in any way in the past three years?
Lahm: Well you certainly become more sure of yourself in the job, because of the extra experience you have. I think I’ve learned to go about my own business a little more sensibly. The experience gives me a certain peace of mind, but I’ve also developed the feeling of being more involved in the group and being more receptive to what’s going on. What the other players are thinking, what they’re dealing with, where can we improve and so on.
DFB.de: German supporters will be expecting you to win the World Cup in 2014. Would anything other than lifting the trophy be a disappointment for you?
Lahm: No. We know how difficult it is to win a World Cup. To have that massive success, a lot of things need to go right. Only three German teams have won World Cup before us, and the competition now has only got fiercer. To say “anything other than a win“ would be disrespectful to the work involved and to the players of other teams. In recent tournaments we’ve always gone as far as the semi-finals at least, and so in that sense I can understand the fans’ hopes. But we also put a certain amount of pressure on ourselves as well. We have quality and there*s great potential in this team, and on a good day we can beat anybody. So our objective has to be to deliver on that potential and go as far as possible.
DFB.de: How does the team need to play at the World Cup? What do you need to do for you – the captain – to be speaking of a successful tournament?
Lahm: For me, a successful World Cup would be for us to develop a great team spirit, to show our capabilities on the pitch, to play intelligently in terms of tactics, but above all, to play good football with passion, heart and a smile on our faces.
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[bild1]
Captain, centurion, treble-winner – Philipp Lahm was a lot of things in 2013. Behind him are the twelve most remarkable months of his career, in which he secured trophy after trophy with FC Bayern, successful qualification for the FIFA World Cup and his 100th cap for Germany. He also turned 30 this year, and although he has never been one to get carried away with success, Lahm already has Brazil 2014 in his sights.
DFB.de-Editor Steffen Lüdeke interviewed the FC Bayern stalwart.
DFB.de: Mr. Lahm, you turned 30 this year, won a bunch of trophies and made your 100th international appearance. What do you look back on most fondly from 2013?
Philipp Lahm: I definitely associate this year with the trophies we won at Bayern. We had an amazing season and ended it in an amazing way, and that will stay with me. The treble will also stay with me for years, decades even – I’ll always associate 2013 with it. But that shouldn’t cast a shadow over the other achievements. We’ve been very successful with the national team again, won our qualification group and reached the World Cup with two games to spare. It was a very successful year, from lots of different perspectives.
DFB.de:Winning the Champions League in 2013 showed what a team needs to do to win the major titles. What are the ingredients?
Lahm: The togetherness of the group and team spirit is really important. Everyone needs to be prepared to work for the team and for everyone else. With Bayern – and with the national team – what’s also made us stand out was that we went out on the pitch and played with a high tempo immediately. We play football with conviction and a smile on our faces. Obviously there are tactical instructions that go with that, as well as your footballing abilities and the quality of the players in the squad. But what marks some teams out over others is their will, heart and passion.
DFB.de:In which of those areas did the national team make the most progress in 2013?
Lahm: We can’t get carried away by the games we played and the results we had in qualification. You can only draw certain conclusions from matches against teams like the Faroe Islands, for example. In qualification for a tournament, you’re not stretched like you would be in the tournament itself, where you need to put in top-drawer performances every five days or so. I think we’ve improved in terms of our overall game, probably because a lot of players have more experience than our last tournament in 2012. If you consider a longer period of time and how much we’ve developed since 2010, there are certainly differences in the way we play. Now we don’t wait for the opposition to come out as much, we want to dictate the game ourselves. We play possession football. We’re not reactive, we’re proactive.
DFB.de: Sami Khedira has been an automatic pick at every tournament since 2010, but he injured himself in a friendly game against Italy recently. Do you believe the team is in a position to compensate for his absence?
Lahm: I think that first of all we should wait and see how his injury plays out. I hope he’s free of complication in his recovery and gets the best possible treatment. It was a few years ago now but I did tear a cruciate knee ligament myself, and I know how important it is to stay patient. We’ll have to wait and see how things develop with him, but Sami shouldn’t put himself under too much pressure because of the World Cup. I hope for his sake and ours that he is back in action in time for the tournament. But he shouldn’t take any risks – his health is the priority. Obviously any team will suffer without a player like him, but we have a big squad with a lot of quality. Against England and Italy recently, we had a lot of players unavailable for whatever reason, but we managed to cope without them. Sami is not a player you can replace like for like, but as a team and a group, we can deal with his absence. I’ve always maintained that at a World Cup, it’s not just the eleven players who start that will be needed to win games; every single individual will have to perform. In a tournament, every player does his bit.
[bild2]
DFB.de: During the friendlies against Italy and England, you also began preparing for Brazil 2014, with Cacau teaching you Portuguese. How much of what you’ve learned has stuck?
Lahm: (laughing) It was fun, but to be honest I don’t think I’m going to master the language in time for the World Cup.
DFB.de: But you could learn a few phrases, if only to show respect to your hosts...
Lahm: Luckily I don’t have to sit down and learn those. We have so many international players at our clubs, Brazilians too. I think every national team player can definitely say the odd word or two in Portuguese, like ‘please’, ‘thank you’ and ‘hello’. And I’ve also had the experience that you get to know people when you get there, even if you don’t speak the language that fluently. Communication isn’t just about words, it’s also about signs and gesticulations. We had that experience in South Africa. When we arrived at our training base, we were greeted with dances and celebrations. And eventually every one of us could sing along in the songs, especially the ‘Shosholozo’. If you open yourself up to the mentality of the locals, you can make a real connection with them.
DFB.de: Does the World Cup in 2014 also mean something more for you because it’s in Brazil? Does that make the anticipation even more acute?
Lahm: Brazil is an absolutely football crazy nation with a unique and beautiful footballing history. I’ve had the good fortune of being able to play every World Cup of my career so far in a different continent. Next up is South America and I’m really looking forward to it. You get a taste of a new culture and you get to know different people and their culture. That’s the mindset I’ll have going into the tournament – I want to be open to every new experience. I firmly believe we’ll receive a great welcome in Brazil. The expectation is huge, but there’s still a long way to go until it begins. In March we have our last friendly game, and after that the anticipation will start to build.
DFB.de: You have been Germany captain since 2010. Has the way in which you have performed that role changed in any way in the past three years?
Lahm: Well you certainly become more sure of yourself in the job, because of the extra experience you have. I think I’ve learned to go about my own business a little more sensibly. The experience gives me a certain peace of mind, but I’ve also developed the feeling of being more involved in the group and being more receptive to what’s going on. What the other players are thinking, what they’re dealing with, where can we improve and so on.
DFB.de: German supporters will be expecting you to win the World Cup in 2014. Would anything other than lifting the trophy be a disappointment for you?
Lahm: No. We know how difficult it is to win a World Cup. To have that massive success, a lot of things need to go right. Only three German teams have won World Cup before us, and the competition now has only got fiercer. To say “anything other than a win“ would be disrespectful to the work involved and to the players of other teams. In recent tournaments we’ve always gone as far as the semi-finals at least, and so in that sense I can understand the fans’ hopes. But we also put a certain amount of pressure on ourselves as well. We have quality and there*s great potential in this team, and on a good day we can beat anybody. So our objective has to be to deliver on that potential and go as far as possible.
DFB.de: How does the team need to play at the World Cup? What do you need to do for you – the captain – to be speaking of a successful tournament?
Lahm: For me, a successful World Cup would be for us to develop a great team spirit, to show our capabilities on the pitch, to play intelligently in terms of tactics, but above all, to play good football with passion, heart and a smile on our faces.
