Lothar Matthäus
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Lothar Herbert Matthäus was born in Erlangen (Bavaria), on March 21, 1961.
In 1971 he joined the Herzogenaurach youth set up and in 1978-79 played 23 games with 22 goals for the first team.
In 1979 he signed for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga. He stayed five seasons and played 200 games with 51 goals. "Die Fohlen" (Foals) finished 7th, 6th, 7th, 12th and 3rd. In 1980 they reached the UEFA Cup final but lost to Eintracht Frankfurt on away goals. His manager was Juup Heynckes for the whole period.
In 1984 he joined Bayern Munich. He stayed with the Bavarians for four seasons. He played 152 games with 69 goals and won three league titles under Udo Lattek and then finished 2nd under Juup Heynckes. He also won a German Cup and a Super Cup.
In 1988 he moved to Italy and signed for Inter. He stayed four seasons with the Nerazzurri, playing 154 games with 53 goals. He won a Scudetto (1989), then finished 3rd twice and 8th. He also won a UEFA Cup (1991) and an Italian Supercoppa (1989). His managers were Giovanni Trapattoni (three seasons), Corrado Orrico and Luis Suarez .The squads included Lazio connections; Astutillo Malgioglio (1985-86), Luca Mondini (1999-2000) and Dino Baggio (2000-03). In 1990 while at Inter he won the Balon d'Or.
In 1992 Matthäus returned to Bayern Munich for almost another eight seasons. He played 257 games with 31 goals. He won 3 more league titles (1994, 1997 and 1999), a German Cup, 3 League Cups and a UEFA Cup (1996). In 1999 they reached the Champions League final but lost 1-2 to Manchester United, to two very late goals. His managers were Erich Ribbeck, Franz Beckenbauer, Giovanni Trapattoni, Otto Rehhagel, Trapattoni again and Ottmar Hitzfeld.
In January 2000 he left Bayern and went to the United States. He played 23 games for the New York MetroStars and then retired at 39.
He earned 84 caps for West Germany with 15 goals. In 1980 he won the European Championship and as captain in 1990 he won the World Cup, both in Italy. With Germany reunited he then won another 66 caps with 8 goals. He was also runner-up at the World Cup twice (1982 and 1986).
After retiring he has had several coaching experiences around the world.
He has had jobs with Rapid Vienna (2001-02), Partizan Belgrade (Dec 2002-03), Hungary (Dec 2003-Dec 05), Atlético Paranense (Brazil, Jan -Mar 2006), Salzburg (assistant, 2006-07), Maccabi Natanya (Israel, 2008-09), Racing Club (Argentina, 2009), Bulgaria (2010-11) and TSV Grünwald (youth sector 2022-24). He won a league title with Partizan (2003) and with Salzburg (2007).
He also worked for German weekly magazine Sports Bild from 2001 to 2009 and in punditry for various broadcasters, including Sky Deutschland, ZDF, Eurosport, Al Jazeera, IRIB and ITV.
He has also been married five times and has four children. A busy man.
Matthäus was a midfielder. He is considered one of the best of his generation. He was dynamic, athletic, versatile and strong. He was an all round midfielder who could defend and attack both with excellent results. He was a good assist man but also possessed a powerful shot. He is ranked as the 31st best player of the 20th century by World Soccer and 15th by IFFHS. FIFA placed him 8th in the list of best number 10s in the history of football. Maradona once described him as the best opponent he had ever played against.
He played 810 games and scored 226 goals. He won his fair share of silverware; a World Cup, a European Championship, 7 league titles, the UEFA Cup twice and 6 domestic cups. He is a German legend but also a hero at Inter where he was the first midfielder to be put in their Hall of Fame.
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