5 greatest German footballers of all time

#3 Lothar Matthaus

Lothar Matthaus

Lothar Matthaus is one of the most successful footballers of all time. He remains a multiple record holder for his national side. He holds the record of participating in 5 world cups jointly with Antonio Carvajal, the Mexican goalkeeper. He has also played in 25 World Cup matches, the highest by any player in the history of the tournament. Matthaus finished runner-up in the 1986 World Cup with the West German team.

He, however, made amends in 1990 by lifting the trophy as the West German captain. He also played in the 1998 World Cup as a 37-year old veteran and held another record of being the oldest German player to appear in a World Cup match. He also won the European Championship with the German National team in 1980 and earned a record 150 international caps for his country.

Matthaus started his career with Borussia Monchengladbach and spent 5 seasons with the club before moving to Bayern Munich. He spent 4 seasons at Bayern and won the UEFA Cup with them. Matthaus then joined Inter Milan and won the Serie A and UEFA cup with the Italian club.

He joined Bayern Munich again in the early 1990s and spent 8 more seasons with the club until his retirement at the age of 39. In all, Matthaus amassed 782 caps in his club career and scored 204 goals. He also won 7 Bundesliga titles, 1 Serie A and 2 UEFA cups.

The versatile Matthaus was comfortable playing both as a defensive midfielder and an attacking one. He won the prestigious Ballon d'Or in 1990 because of his incredible performance during the 1989-90 season.