Matthäus is the mostcapped German player of all time, retiring with a total of 150 appearances (83 for West Germany) in 20 years, and 23 goals. Matthäus is a member of theFIFA 100 list of the greatest living football players chosen byPelé.[2]Diego Maradona said of Matthäus, "He is the best rival I've ever had. I guess that's enough to define him."[3]
A versatile and complete player, Matthäus is regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, and was renowned for his perceptive passing, positional sense and well-timed tackling, as well as his powerful shooting. During his career, he usually played as abox-to-box midfielder, although late in his career he played as asweeper.[4][5][6]
Lothar Herbert Matthäus was born on 21 March 1961 inErlangen,Bavaria, West Germany,[7] to Heinz (1930–2019) and Katharina (1931–2020) Matthäus. His father, who was born in southernSilesia, fled west across theOder during the Soviet invasion in 1944, then worked as a canteen manager, while his mother worked forPuma.[8] He spent his early playing days in the youth team of1. FC Herzogenaurach, located in a small town in Bavaria close toNuremberg.[9]
Returning toBayern Munich in 1992, he won four Bundesliga titles, two DFB-Pokals, another UEFA Cup and reached a secondEuropean Cup final in1999. The only major club football honour which eluded Matthäus, for competitions in which he played, was theUEFA Champions League. Famously, he came within two minutes of picking up a winners' medal in1999, only to have his hopes dashed byManchester United, who scored twolast-minute goals in the final, after he was substituted in the 80th minute of play while the team was still leading 1–0. When the two teams went to collect their medals Matthäus removed his runners-up medal immediately after he received it – it was the second time he had been on the losing side in a final under similar circumstances; in the1987 final, Bayern had been leading 1–0 most of the game until two late goals gaveFC Porto the win. After Matthäus retired, Bayern would win the Champions League in2000–01 and later that year theIntercontinental Cup. His last official match for Bayern took place inMunich on 8 March 2000 and was a Champions League match againstReal Madrid, which Bayern won 4–1.[11]
During the1999–2000 season, Matthäus moved from Bayern to New York City'sMetroStars team ofMajor League Soccer in the United States. He played in the US from March to October 2000 and retired from professional football afterwards. During his season with the MetroStars, he traveled toSt. Tropez when he was supposed to be rehabbing his back.[12]
Matthäus came out of retirement in 2018, at age 57, to play 50 minutes of1. FC Herzogenaurach's final league game of the season. The team had already secured the league title, and the appearance allowed Matthäus to satisfy his ambition retiring with the club where his career started: "It was always my dream to play my last competitive game here."[13]
Matthäus (pictured in 1999) has won more internationalcaps than any German with 150 and went to nine major international tournaments, serving as captain of the1990 World Cup champions.
Matthäus was first called up in 1980 to the West German squad that won theUEFA Euro 1980 in Italy, making his international debut during the tournament in a 3–2 first round win against theNetherlands on 14 June; this was his only appearance in this edition of the competition.[14] He also played two games at the1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain; he was brought on as a substitute in group stage games againstChile[15] and the infamousDisgrace of Gijón game versusAustria, which West Germany won 1–0, allowing both teams to advance from their group.[16]West Germany reachedthe final, losing toItaly at theSantiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid 3–1.[17]
Matthäus also had a regular place in the national team for the1986 World Cup in Mexico, scoring the winner in the round of 16 againstMorocco.[18] In the final at theAzteca Stadium in Mexico City, despite his considerable play-making ability, he was assigned by coachFranz Beckenbauer to markArgentina'sDiego Maradona. Maradona did not score in the final, but his pass toJorge Burruchaga with six minutes left in regulation time set up the winning goal for Argentina, and West Germany lost their second consecutiveWorld Cup final, this time 3–2.[19]
During the 1994 World Cup, Matthäus scored a penalty againstBorislav Mihaylov in the quarterfinals against Bulgaria atGiants Stadium, New York City.
His immediate success in Italy's premier football league, the Serie A, was a precursor to the national team which finally managed to triumph at the1990 FIFA World Cup held in Italy. Six of West Germany's squad played professionally there; Matthäus and the West German squad played most of the World Cup games at Inter's home stadium theSan Siro. West Germany was the best team of the tournament and one of the few to choose an attacking style of play, contrary to previous German teams' more defensive style. Matthäus led his squad from midfield and scored four goals, including two in the team's opening group match, a 4–1 win againstYugoslavia.[21] He scored the only goal of the quarter-final againstCzechoslovakia from a penalty awarded in the 25th minute of the match.[22] West Germany reached its third consecutive final, a rematch against Maradona-led Argentina, and this time Matthäus and his team emerged victorious 1–0 at theStadio Olimpico in Rome thanks toAndreas Brehme converting an 85th minutepenalty. Matthäus later said that playing the World Cup in Italy was "like playing a World Cup at home".[23] As team captain, Matthäus hoisted the lastWorld Cup trophy beforeGerman reunification in 1990.[24]
Matthäus did not participate in theUEFA Euro 1992 in Sweden due to an injury, where a reunified Germany made thefinal but surprisingly lost 2–0 toDenmark.[25] At the1994 FIFA World Cup hosted by the United States, he captained the team but now operated as sweeper. He scored a penalty in Germany's quarter-final match against Bulgaria atGiants Stadium in New York City, which was also his record-tying 21st World Cup match, but the Bulgarians scored twice in three minutes to upset the defending champions.[26] USA '94 was expected to be his last tournament, though he did not officially retire from international play. Matthäus was afterwards not called up for the national team, due to feuding with succeeding captainJürgen Klinsmann and coachBerti Vogts. In his absence Germany wonUEFA Euro 1996 which was held in England.[27]
Surprisingly, he was called up for the1998 World Cup in France as a replacement for the injuredMatthias Sammer.[15] He was on the bench for Germany's victory over theUnited States, but came in as a substitute againstFR Yugoslavia and helped the team to a 2–2 draw.[28] He became the second player to appear in five different World Cup tournaments, tying the record of Mexican goalkeeperAntonio Carbajal.[29] In2014, the record has also been tied by Italian goalkeeperGianluigi Buffon,[29] who however has only played in four. In 2015,Homare Sawa andFormiga became the first footballers to appear for a record sixth time at the2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada.[30] Matthäus played in all the rest of Germany's matches untilCroatia knocked them out in Lyon 3–0 in the quarterfinals,[31] taking his total to a then-record 25[29] (since eclipsed byLionel Messi).
Matthäus earned his last three caps atUEFA Euro 2000 in Belgium and the Netherlands, with his 150th cap being againstPortugal, where Germany had a disastrous first-round exit.[32] He had a poor performance in the first group game against Romania, causingOliver Bierhoff and other key German players to demand his benching, but head coachErich Ribbeck stuck by Matthäus.[33]
One year after ending his illustrious playing career, Matthäus went into coaching, an activity where he has, so far, been much less distinguished. In his print interviews and other media appearances, he has been open about his goal and desire to coach in the German Bundesliga. His hope was that taking coaching jobs abroad would lead to offers from German clubs.
When none came his way even after multiple foreign appointments, he often brought it up in the German press in-between his coaching stints. In a lengthy November 2009Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung interview, Matthäus complained about what he considers to be inadequate treatment he receives in Germany as a former great. He also bemoaned the lack of coaching job offers extended to him in the German Bundesliga—claiming German clubs perceive him as too much of aBayern supporter and too closely linked with the influentialBild tabloid newspaper to give him a job.[34]
In December 2002, looking to replace their recently sacked head coachLjubiša Tumbaković, Serbian clubFK Partizan hired Matthäus during mid-season winter break, signing the German to an 18-month contract.[39]
Inheriting a team at the top of the league table, Matthäus achieved the immediate goal of steering Partizan to the 2002–03 league title; and did so in convincing fashion, extending the lead over the second-placedcross-town rivalsRed Star Belgrade to 19 points at one point.
On 13 December 2003, right after finishing the final league match of the first half of theseason before the winter break (0–1 win away atFK Železnik), Matthäus abruptly resigned his Partizan post by addressing the players and club leadership in private.[41] A club spokesperson said Matthäus would clear everything up at a press conference scheduled for two days later, but it was already widely speculated through reports in the Hungarian press that the German had agreed terms with theHungarian Football Federation to coach theHungary national team. The rumours proved true as he officially signed the contract inBudapest and also got introduced to the media atKempinski Hotel Corvinus.[42]
Four months after leaving Belgrade, in mid-April 2004, the row over the terms of Matthäus' contract with Partizan was opened with both parties publicly going back and forth at each other. It began with Matthäus, by now Hungarian national team head coach, giving a detailed interview to Serbian press and accusing Partizan club leadership of breaching the additional terms of his contract.[43] It became known on that occasion that his initial contract with Partizan that had been finalized on 1 January 2003 included a base guaranteed part as well additional premium clauses giving him between 5–10% from players' transfers and shirt sponsorships as well as Champions League bonus incentives. Matthäus claimed that after none of that was honoured he gave up on asking for his percentages of theDanko Lazović andZvonimir Vukić transfers as well asSuperfund shirt sponsorship deal due to "not wanting to upset the team atmosphere during Champions League qualifying", but instead pushed for the additional terms to be renegotiated. After successful Champions League qualification, the additional terms were in fact renegotiated with Partizan's general secretaryŽarko Zečević so that both parties agreed to put the previous additional terms out of effect and instead now give Matthäus 15% ofIgor Duljaj's (the club's best young asset at the time) future transfer abroad as well as to allow Matthäus to leave the club any time he wanted without penalties. Duljaj was sold toShakhtar Donetsk in January 2004 for US$4 million, and Matthäus claimed Partizan failed to pay him the agreed percentage ($600,000 or €469,500). The club responded two days later in a lengthy press release saying that they don't owe him any money.[44] One day after that, Matthäus decided to sue Partizan for the amount of US$600,000 beforeSports Arbitration Court inLausanne, Switzerland.[45]
Matthäus became manager of theHungary national football team on 14 December 2003.[46] Taking over the national team of a country once synonymous with world class football that had over the decades in the meantime fallen to the point of being unable to qualify for a major competition since the1986 FIFA World Cup, Matthäus was given the task of qualifying for the2006 World Cup as part of theHungarian Football Federation's (MLSZ) ambitious plan of returning on the path of former1950s glory. After being drawn in a tough group withSweden,Croatia andBulgaria that goal looked increasingly difficult.
Thecampaign started in the autumn of 2004 and fairly quickly it became obvious Hungary were in over their heads. Opening 3–0 loss away at Croatia in early September was somewhat offset four days later by a 3–2 hard fought home win versusIceland. A month later, Matthäus' Hungary faced another important test away from home, this time at Sweden and once again it finished in disappointment with another demoralizing 3–0 loss. Before the winter break, Hungary managed to beat the minnows of the groupMalta thus finishing the autumn part of the qualifying in fourth place with six points, mathematically still within striking distance of the leading trio. Notable was a 2–0 win in a friendly in Kaiserslautern against Germany on 6 June 2004.
As the qualifiers resumed in late March 2005, Hungary hosted Bulgaria in what was pretty much a must win match for Matthäus' squad, however they only managed a draw right at the end with the goal coming in 90th minute for a 1–1 final scoreline. As Croatia and Sweden both won on the same occasion, the leading duo of teams now tangibly separated themselves from the pack of chasers, all of which meant that in order to qualify Hungary would have to win all its remaining fixtures and even get some outside help in terms of favourable results elsewhere. Such improbable scenario failed to materialize and they ended up in fourth place with 14 points from 10 matches, well behind Croatia and Sweden who earned 25 and 24 points, respectively. However, Matthäus was allowed to finish out the campaign behind the bench, and was even offered Hungariancitizenship, which he at the time said he would accept. There's no word whether he actually did. Matthäus left the Hungarian national team on 11 January 2006.[47]
After leaving the Hungary post, Matthäus was vocally critical of theHungarian Football Federation (MLSZ), accusing it in November 2007 of "not contributing, but exploiting Hungarian football" before adding that "it is not coincidental that theHungarian bid to hostEuro 2012 didn't receive any votes".[48]
Matthäus signed a one-year contract to coach Brazilian clubAthletico Paranaense from the city ofCuritiba on 11 January 2006.[47] However, after only seven matches in charge (five wins, two draws) from the start of the 2006Paranástate championship, he quit the club in March 2006 citing the need to be closer to his family. The way he left raised some questions about his professionalism. Apparently, only five 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 on 20 March and never even went back to Brazil to pick up his personal belongings.[49] Some ten days later, Atlético put out a release mentioning that Matthäus ran upR$13,000 (US$5,915) in phone charges that the club wanted him to pay.[50][51] The club even posted the bill on their website.[52]
On 19 May 2006, only two months following the bizarre Brazilian episode, Matthäus was announced as coach ofRed Bull Salzburg (formerly Austria Salzburg) for the upcoming2006–07 season. Shortly, the club also signedGiovanni Trapattoni (incidentally Matthäus' former coach at both Inter Milan and Bayern) to be their director of football. In practice, this meant that Trapattoni and Matthäus essentially shared coaching duties.
Despite co-leading the team to the Austrian league title by a large margin, Matthäus would eventually be fired on 12 June 2007 by unanimous decision of the Red Bull Salzburg's board of directors.
On 13 April 2008, it was announced that Matthäus signed with Israeli clubMaccabi Netanya to coach the team from the beginning of the2008–09 season.[53]
On 29 April 2009, with the Israeli league season still ongoing and Netanya sitting in fourth place, it was announced that Matthäus will not be back for the second season once the current one is finished.[54] The reason cited was the financial trouble that the club was going through.[54] Matthäus' club finished the league season in fourth spot.
Matthäus (right) during a friendly match against Serbia in November 2010
On 23 September 2010, it was announced that Matthäus would be the new coach of theBulgarian national team after the resignation ofStanimir Stoilov a few weeks earlier.[55] His contract was for one year with the option for a two-year extension.
He started with a 1–0 win againstWales inCardiff on his debut.[56] Matthäus led Bulgaria to their first win in 2010 and in theUEFA Euro 2012 qualification campaign. On 12 October 2010, he led Bulgaria to a 2–0 win overSaudi Arabia in a friendly. On 17 November 2010, in a friendly played inSofia, Bulgaria lost toSerbia 0–1. Despite winning his first match in the qualifiers against Wales, Bulgaria under Matthäus were unable to qualify for Euro 2012, following draws withSwitzerland andMontenegro, as well as a home loss againstEngland. On 19 September 2011, it was revealed that Matthäus had been sacked.[57] The match against Switzerland was his final match.[58]
Renowned for his positioning, technical ability, stamina, passing, tackling, and powerful long range shooting abilities with either foot, Matthäus is widely considered by many to be one of the greatest and most complete midfielders of all time, and even by some as one of the greatest players of all time.[63][64][65][66] Primarily abox-to-box midfielder, he was also capable of playing as anattacking ordefensive midfielder.[66][67]
Journalist Jacques Thibert, writing forFrance Football, who awarded Matthäus the1990 Ballon d'Or, described him as a player that despite not being sublime in anything individually, was good in every aspect of the game, which allowed him to be at ease in every area of the pitch. Furthermore, Thibert credited his Inter managerGiovanni Trapattoni for turning him into a more creative, assertive and rhythmic player.[68] At Inter under Trapattoni, Matthäus excelled in a three-man midfield, either in a free role as adeep-lying playmaker, or even as an offensive left-sidedcentral midfielder in themezzala role on occasion, with eitherGianfranco Matteoli orSergio Battistini serving as defensive midfielder andNicola Berti as a box-to-box midfielder.[67][69][70][71][72]
Well into his 30's and coupled with injuries led to then Germany national team managerBerti Vogts's decision to convert Matthäus into asweeper, a position that he would later play at his final five years in Bayern.[73] As a sweeper, Matthäus enjoyed great freedom, as he could defend and make offensive runs into the opposing team's defensive area, and also exert influence into Bayern's attacking game due to his ability to read the game.[66] Aside from his passing and long range shooting abilities, Matthäus was also an expertfree kick andpenalty taker, known for his powerful strikes fromset pieces.[74][75][76][77] In addition to his footballing skills, Matthäus was also praised for his winning mentality, determination, leadership, and commanding presence on the pitch, which made him a decisive player for his teams.[67]
Matthäus has four children,[78] and has been married five times. During his first marriage (1981–1992), he had two daughters with wife Silvia.
In 1994, he married Swiss model and TV presenterLolita Morena with whom he had a son. The marriage ended in 1999.
While coaching Partizan in Belgrade, Matthäus met 31-year-old Serbian socialiteMarijana Čolić who became his third wife on 27 November 2003. By late 2007, the couple separated and she filed for divorce, which became official in late January 2009 following a year-long court case inSalzburg, Austria (their last residence) over the division of assets.[79]
In December 2008, 47-year-old Matthäus married 21-year-old Ukrainian model Kristina Liliana Chudinova. The ceremony was held in Las Vegas. They met a year earlier at theOktoberfest beer festival in Munich. The couple lived inTel Aviv, Israel, where Liliana studied journalism in a local university;[80]but started living separately by early 2010.[81]
Matthäus married Anastasia Klimko in 2014 and they have a son. The marriage ended in 2021.[82]
In 2023, Matthäus became a co-owner of the Ghanaian football teamAccra Lions.[83][84]
Matthäus features inEA Sports'FIFA video game series; he was on the cover of the German edition ofFIFA 2001,[85] and features in theFIFA 14,FIFA 15,FIFA 16,FIFA 17,FIFA 18,FIFA 19 andFIFA 20 as an Ultimate Team Icon.[86] Matthäus was also prominently featured in the opening video scene ofEA's Euro 2000 video game, withPaul Oakenfold transforming the real Matthäus into an interactive digital player he controls in the game with his turntables.[87] In August 2019, Matthäus became the face of turn-based football management gameFootball, Tactics & Glory; he does not actually appear in the game itself.[88]
Matthäus had a guest role together with Joanna Tuczyńska in the television seriesAlarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei, in which he played himself in March 2012.[89] In June 2012,VOX broadcast a documentary titled "Lothar – immer am Ball".[90]
^Krech, Eva-Maria; Stock, Eberhard; Hirschfeld, Ursula; Anders, Lutz Christian (2009).Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch [German Pronunciation Dictionary] (in German). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 709, 731.ISBN978-3-11-018202-6.
