Top 103 Quotes & Sayings by Philipp Lahm

Explore popular quotes and sayings by a German athlete Philipp Lahm.
Last updated on November 21, 2024.
Philipp Lahm

Philipp Lahm is a German former professional footballer who played as a full-back. Considered by many to be one of the greatest full-backs of all time, Lahm was the captain of Bayern Munich, having led them to numerous honours including the 2013 UEFA Champions League as part of the Treble. He is also a former captain of his national team, which he led to win the 2014 FIFA World Cup, before retiring from international football.

In football, surprises are always possible.
To grow up and play for FC Bayern Munich and eventually Germany has been truly a dream come true.
Klinsmann was the shining hero of the 2006 World Cup when Bayern took him on. — © Philipp Lahm
Klinsmann was the shining hero of the 2006 World Cup when Bayern took him on.
Of course, the moment when the ball hits the net, that's fascinating for kids playing the game and motivates them to join a club.
An openly gay footballer would be exposed to abusive comments.
I spend too much time sitting in an office. So I need to play sports on a regular basis, that's why I play golf and tennis.
When I played for Stuttgart, I met Manchester United and Chelsea. With United, I immediately think of the duels with Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes and with Chelsea, it was John Terry. Those players are symbols of their clubs and the success they had at that time.
It's not enough to buy good players, one has to develop a team.
Winning the Bundesliga is never a given.
Maybe modern tactics mean that making the switch from defence to midfield is easier. Many years ago, full backs were more limited - you were just supposed to defend, and it didn't matter if you could get forward too.
In every part of our society, rules have to be questioned and adapted.
In the past, we won tournaments with lots of fighting and lots of hard running.
You can never know if there will be a second Cruyff, someone with a great personality who can grow up and make it into the squad of the club they love. But what is certain is that, in the Champions League, there will be big clubs producing these players forever.
In a World Cup you always intend to compete with the best. — © Philipp Lahm
In a World Cup you always intend to compete with the best.
Even if I won so many titles, the first title is not forgotten.
If you do the job out there on the pitch and you have it under control, as in my case, you want more. You want more responsibility. You want to take care of it all. That is the case with me.
It's our responsibility as experienced and successful players to manage our powers in order to be able to give 100 per cent in the right moments.
As a full back, your role is just as much in playing in midfield, getting forward and creating chances, as it is stopping them at the other end.
Fear mustn't take control of us.
Felix Magath works with pressure. At first, we didn't know where we stood with him. That prompted the players to give their best because they wanted to play, but after a while the players knew where they stood and Magath no longer received the same effect.
Big teams need a core of players who have their roots at their clubs, who grow with their clubs and who embody the culture. Representing it on the pitch and outside as well.
It doesn't matter if you have the best individual players, as you need to have the best team unit.
Football is teamwork, unity, defence, assists, sacrifice.
For me it's more difficult to play against the quicker wingers, but for the team it's perhaps more difficult to face players that are good passers, because one through ball can take the whole team out of the game.
I believe that when Fifa hands out an award, it should not be a marketing prize that solely honours the protagonists of a media-crazy sport.
I have played football since I was five years old. This is my core skill and it will always remain so.
AC Milan would never have been the same club without Paolo Maldini or Franco Baresi and they certainly would have never had the same amount of success.
It's obvious that I'd like to keep the captain's armband. The job gives me a great deal of enjoyment. Why should I then give it up by choice?
We make adjustments and changes before and sometimes also during the games in order adapt to the opposition. The manager will, for example, tell the striker to make different runs or position the central midfielders slightly differently in relation to each other.
We have big goals at Bayern and always want to go as far as possible in each competition and win silverware. But it is great to have won the World Cup. You are a world champion for your entire life. A lof of people talk about it and it remains very special. But it's not like I think about the World Cup each morning I wake up.
I have no problems with homosexuals whatsoever.
Those who have achieved success in football have a degree of responsibility to be open and honest about our 'calling,' our passion.
I played at full-back for 10 years, I enjoyed it, and I had success there, so I can never regret being a defender.
I have climbed every step of the football ladder, from kicking a ball about in Munich's Olympic Park to becoming a junior at Bayern, signing professional terms, establishing myself in the first team and taking the captain's armband.
I consider it a privilege and duty to pass on the experience and knowledge I have accumulated in 20 years of experience at club and national team level with Bayern and Germany.
I have a clear goal: the greatest possible success, the World Cup trophy.
At Euro 2004 - my first as a player - Greece won the title. A team nobody thought could win it.
We should not discuss refereeing performances but support decisions to help their work. — © Philipp Lahm
We should not discuss refereeing performances but support decisions to help their work.
At the start of every season, I always asked myself - am I meeting my own standards? Can I still do it? I didn't want to come to the conclusion that I couldn't during a season.
The abolition of the double sanction for a foul in the box is a welcome change. There are times that you cannot help but stop your opponent in the box, with your momentum forcing you to make a challenge. Fouls can't be avoided in that situation but your intention was fair.
Personal vanity has no place in a World Cup.
I do a lot of things instinctively.
Generally I always take genuine criticism. It's part of football.
I've practically grown up with FC Bayern Munich since the age of 11. In my case, a talent scout noticed me when I was playing for a local youth team at Gern in Munich.
You only miss many chances when you create many chances.
The title I most want is the 2014 World Cup.
Our sport needs lethal strikers, goalscorers, heroes. But football is much more than the moment of triumph.
I'm lucky to have played two different positions. But of course the experience I gained as a full back - knowledge of defending, and taking up the right positions, helps me as a midfielder.
Thomas Muller is an excellent player. — © Philipp Lahm
Thomas Muller is an excellent player.
We have always found it easier, and still do, when the opponent plays football as well, when they don't just think in defensive terms, don't just sit inside their penalty box. It's just nicer when the opponent plays football.
Schweinsteiger has always been an important player for the national team.
Cruyff's idea was, quite literally, to play football - nothing more, nothing less. His idea of how football should be played was based not on controlling the opponent, but on the ball and the game.
Looking back at my matches since 2002, there is one main criterion for me which marks a club which is successful in the long-term: big players, who have grown with their clubs, whose names are tied to the success and who have a 100 per cent identification with the team, the club and its history.
To achieve success in this game you need specific talents and attributes. But we also have to adapt to the fact that we work in the public eye, with all its pros and cons.
Every Bundesliga match is a new challenge, our opponents don't make it easy for us.
Sporting behaviour means fair behaviour. This is the player's task, not the referee's.
We practically only practiced fitness under Klinsmann, there was very little technical instruction and the players themselves discussed the way they would play a game before the match.
Of course it's not a normal thing to show a good performance every time.
As a young footballer I used to look up to a number of stars for inspiration and I understand what Bhaichung must have done for all young Indians aspiring to be footballer.
As a captain, I have to be courageous but I also want to be nice off the pitch.
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