Lothar Matthäus

Lothar Herbert Matthäus (born 21 March, 1961) is a German former football player and now manager. He was named European Footballer of the Year and German Footballer of the Year in 1990 after captaining Germany to victory in the 1990 World Cup. One year later, he was also named FIFA World Player of the Year.

Career

Playing

Matthäus was born in Erlangen, Bavaria. Early in his career, he played in the midfield, before switching to the Sweeper position in his 30s.

He has played in five World Cups (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998) more than any other outfield player, and holds the record for the most World Cup games played (25 games). He also won the 1980 European Football Championship, and played in , , and . Matthäus is a member of the FIFA 100 – a list of 125 of the greatest living football players chosen by Pelé.

Matthäus started his professional career in 1979 with Borussia Mönchengladbach of the Bundesliga, for whom he played until 1984. He also played for Bayern Munich (1984-88 and 1992-2000), Inter Milan of Serie A (1988-92, winning the scudetto in 1989) and the MetroStars of Major League Soccer (2000). He retired with 150 caps and 23 goals for the German national team.

The only major honour which eluded Matthäus, for competitions in which he played, was the UEFA Champions League. Famously, he came within 2 minutes of picking up a winners' medal in 1999, only to have his hopes dashed by Manchester United, who scored two goals in injury time in the final. That match also caused controversy among Bayern Munich fans as he had been substituted in the 86th minute of play while the team was still leading 1-0. When the two teams went to collect their medals, television viewers around the world watched as Matthäus removed his runners-up medal, almost after he received it. It was the second time he had been on the losing side in a final. Matthäus never won the tournament, having moved to play his final season with the USA Major League Soccer MetroStars team before Bayern next won the European Cup in 2001.

Coaching

After ending his illustrious playing days, Matthäus started a coaching career, which has so far been much less distinguished. His first job was as the head coach at Rapid Vienna with mixed results.

In December 2002 he was hired by Partizan Belgrade in mid-season to replace recently sacked Ljubisa Tumbakovic. Matthäus achieved the required success by steering the team to the 2002/03 title, but his finest hour with the club came in August 2003 when Partizan eliminated favourites Newcastle United in the 3rd qualifying round to reach the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League. Though drawn in a tough group with powerhouse Real Madrid, eventual champions FC Porto, and Olympique de Marseille, Partizan played some inspired football that autumn, only narrowly missing out on the UEFA Cup spot.

In December 2003, Matthäus made an abrupt announcement about leaving his post at Partizan only to follow it the next day with another of signing on to coach the national squad of Hungary. A country once synonymous with world class football was trying to return its national team on the path of former 1950s glory, and Matthäus was given the task of qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. After being drawn in a tough group with Sweden, Croatia and Bulgaria that goal looked increasingly difficult. The campaign started in the autumn of 2004 and fairly quickly it became obvious Hungary were in over their heads. However, Matthäus was not fired until the end of the campaign, and was even offered Hungarian citizenship, which he at the time said he would accept. There's no word whether he actually did.

On 11 January, 2006, Matthäus signed an one-year contract to coach Atlético Paranaense of Brazil. However, after only 7 matches in charge (5 wins, 2 draws) he quit the club in March 2006 citing the need to be closer to his family. The way he left the club raised some questions about his professionalism. Apparently, only 5 weeks after signing a contract he informed club officials about a need to rush back to Europe in order to deal with an urgent personal problem, but assured them he'd be back in 3-4 days. After missing for two weeks, he faxed in his resignation and never even went back to Brazil to pick up his personal belongings.^*

On May 19, 2006, Matthaus was announced as coach of Red Bull Salzburg (formerly Austria Salzburg) for the 2006/2007 season. The Austrian Bundesliga side named Giovanni Trapattoni as their sporting director on the same day. Notably, Trapattoni coached Matthäus in the late 1980s (when at Internazionale) and from 1994-1996 and 1997-1998 (when at Bayern Munich).

Honours

Bundesliga Championship: 7 (1985, 1986, 1987, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000)
German Cup: 3 (1986, 1998, 2000)
Serie A Championship: 1 (1989, 1990, 1992, 1999)
First League of Serbia and Montenegro: 1 (2003)
UEFA Cup: 2 (1991, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005)
European Championship: 1 (1980)
World Cup: 1 (1990)

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Career

Playing

Coaching

Honours