Philipp Lahm

Early career

Lahm developed into a professional football player within the Bayern Munich Junior Team. He joined the team at the age of 11 after a youth coach, Jan Pienta, had scouted him several times while he was playing for the local youth team in his hometown Gern, Munich. He was already considered very talented; one of his coaches, Hermann Hummels, even stated that "If Philipp Lahm will not make it in the Bundesliga, nobody will anymore." He twice won the Bundesliga youth title, the second time as captain of his team, and then was introduced into the B team at the age of 17. His former amateur coach Hermann Gerland considers Lahm to be the most talented player he has ever coached and made him the captain of the B team during his second season. Up to this point Lahm played as a defensive midfielder, right midfielder or right full-back. On 13 November 2002, Lahm made his debut for the Bayern Munich first-team as a 92nd-minute substitute in a 3–3 draw with Lens in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. However, since Willy Sagnol and Bixente Lizarazu were established as Bayern's first choice full-backs, and the club's midfield was also well-staffed, Lahm made no further appearances during the 2002–03 season and was loaned to VfB Stuttgart for the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons to gain first-team experience in the Bundesliga.

VfB Stuttgart (loan)

Lahm was originally signed as a back-up for Andreas Hinkel, who played as right/back, but coach Felix Magath…

Youth teams and Euro 2004

Lahm started his international career in the U19 national team. He was part of the team that won silver for Germany in the 2002 UEFA European Under-19 Championship playing in all games in the final tournament and scoring a crucial goal in the 90th minute (2–3) against England in a game that ended 3–3. Afterwards he played a few U20 and U21 matches for Germany before impressing Rudi Völler enough to hand the youngster his debut on 18 February 2004, at 20 years of age. His first game was a 2–1 win over Croatia, where he played the full 90 minutes and was chosen as the man of the match by German football magazine Kicker. He was also part of Germany's team in UEFA Euro 2004 in Portugal and played full 90 minutes in all three games. Although Germany did not make it past the group stage, Lahm's performance was considered very promising and many German papers saw this as the sole positive aspect in Germany's lack of accomplishment in the tournament.

2006 FIFA World Cup

Lahm missed more than a year of international football between January 2005 and March 2006 due to injuries (stress-fracture on foot and a torn cruciate ligament), including the 2005 Confederations Cup, but after his recovery he immediately made it back to the starting line-up. Even though he injured his elbow in a friendly game right before the 2006 FIFA World Cup and thus had to wear a special cast on his left arm, Jürgen Klinsmann still chose him as first option for the…

Although Lahm is right-footed, he was able to play on both sides of the pitch due to his tactical intelligence, crossing ability, and versatility. He played as a left-back for much of his early career before switching to right-back later on. He often cut from the flank to the inside of the pitch to either shoot and/or pass. In particular, he was renowned for his pace, technique, stamina, and precise tackling abilities, as well as his small stature, which earned him the nickname the "Magic Dwarf"; despite his size and playing role, he was described in 2010 by Matthew Scianitti of CBC Sports as having "deceptive strength and impressive shooting skills," which allowed him to assist his teams both offensively and defensively. During his time under manager Pep Guardiola, Lahm also occasionally played as a central or defensive midfielder, in a pivot role in a 3–4–3 formation, which has been likened to that of a metodista ("centre-half," in Italian football jargon), due to his ability to dictate play in midfield and act as a playmaker by starting attacks in addition to assisting his team defensively by winning back possession. Owing to his positioning, tactical sense, and tackling ability despite his small stature, as well as his wide range of skills, such as ability to read the game, leadership qualities, consistency, and ability on the ball, he is widely regarded by pundits as one of the best full-backs of all time. Guardiola once described Lahm as "perhaps the most intelligent…

Lahm is known as a private person who maintains a low-profile outside of football; his best friend Andreas Ottl was the only footballer present at his wedding to Claudia Schattenberg. The couple have a son, Julian, and a daughter, Lenia. A Munich native, Lahm is a lifelong Bayern fan and served as a ball boy at the Olympic Stadium. Lahm is involved in many charity campaigns and events. In June 2007, FIFA announced that Lahm and Owen Hargreaves would visit South Africa in advance to support the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Although Hargreaves never managed to take part in the trip due to injury, Lahm and Germany national teammate Piotr Trochowski visited the country taking time not only to visit the 2010 FIFA World Cup organizers but also to visit a local SOS Children's Village and to take part in the Kick-AIDS event. Lahm has established a foundation, Philipp Lahm-Stiftung, to support underprivileged children and is also an official ambassador representing "FIFA for SOS Children's Villages". In addition he was an ambassador of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 World AIDS Day. He has also taken part in a campaign against speeding and various others such as Bündnis für Kinder, a campaign against child abuse. Lahm was awarded a Tolerantia-Preis on 20 September 2008, due to his outstanding contribution against intolerance and homophobia in sports, particularly in football. He also stated that it's a "pity that being gay in football is still a taboo subject" and he would have no problem with a…