Lahm: "This team has talent, quality, and determination"

With just a few days to go now before EURO 2012 gets under way, the German national team players have begun to count down the hours to their first group B match against Portugal in Lviv on Saturday. DFB.de writer Steffen Lüdeke talks to team skipper Philipp Lahm about tournament preparations so far, a certain Champions League final, and the thoughts of a father-to-be.

team.dfb.de: Philipp, how great is your sense of anticipation ahead of the match against Portugal on Saturday?

Philipp Lahm: Let’s say the heat is rising! Now that we’re here in Poland, it is becoming clear to everyone that this European Championship is about to begin in earnest. After the official opening match on Friday, it’ll be our turn on Saturday at last. We’ve been working and training for this tournament for the past two years.

team.dfb.de: This tournament is the first for you to begin as “proper” team captain; has this had any effect on your personal preparation?

Lahm: Well, even when I wasn’t captain I always had team issues on my mind, thinking about team tactics, ways to make ourselves better players, etc. And it’s become more, actually. I now make a point of making sure that everything’s alright, that things go the way they’re supposed to. It’s basically a self-given mission but one that I enjoy tremendously. And another thing - I’ve vowed not to change. I’ll stay the way I am, only that now they let me exert the right kind of influence at the right point in time.

team.dfb.de: And how’s the preparation been going so far?

Lahm: Everything’s in perfect order. We have a very balanced squad, with great strength in depth, everybody’s doing his bit to make our dream come true. We won the match for third place at the 2010 World Cup, we came second at EURO 2008, now we want more. But we know perfectly well that nothing is easy, and that there are no guarantees you win anything, simply because you tell yourselves ‘now’ it’s our turn’. I’m fairly optimistic, though. This team has talent, quality, and determination.

team.dfb.de: What springs to mind when you hear the word Portugal – Germany’s miserable EURO 2004 campaign, or rather the EURO 2008 quarter-final?

Lahm: Definitely not 2004, ‘cause while we did play IN Portugal we never played against them. But let me just add another match to your list – the 2006 World Cup match for third place. That, too, was a superb experience for us, so Portugal has positive connotations, no doubt.

team.dfb.de: 2004 was your first tournament; if anybody had told you then that eight years on you would lead the team onto the pitch wearing the captain’s armband…

Lahm: …it was never my objective to become national team captain. Before EURO 2004, I had won one single cap and had my work cut out getting my bearings. As time went by, I grew into that role, and being team captain now is a wonderful progression.

team.dfb.de: If and when Germany survive the group stage, you will have collected more caps than Fritz Walter…

Lahm: Really? I didn’t know that. Well, that’s incredible, Fritz Walter is unsurpassed, a true German football legend. For me to be mentioned in the same breath makes me proud.

team.dfb.de: You were part of the DFB delegation that visited the memorial site at the former concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau…

Lahm: It was not that I didn’t know anything about Germany’s Nazi past, on the contrary. I’d been to Dachau, for example, but not Auschwitz. Suffice it to say I was moved to tears, it was incredibly sad to see all those photographs of murdered families, little children… I knew how many people died in Auschwitz, but now the victims are not an anonymous mass anymore. I don’t think I’ll ever forget these pictures, and I guess that’s exactly how it’s supposed to be. Auschwitz is part of German history, and I’m very grateful to have been at the site where all this happened.

team.dfb.de: In an interview with the German magazine “Spiegel” you criticised the situation in Ukraine; did you do that as Philipp Lahm the normal citizen or Philipp Lahm the national team captain?

Lahm: Let’s not fool ourselves – people only listen to me because I play for the German national team. But in this particular case, I did not speak on behalf of my team-mates, I only voiced my private opinion.

team.dfb.de: Have you ever spoken to FC Bayern team-mate Anatolyi Timoshchuk about the issue?

Lahm: Yes, briefly, but not just to him but also to other players. We don’t just talk football all the time, you see… (smiles)

team.dfb.de: Privately, you talk surprisingly little about football. In your opinion, is it getting too much attention sometimes?

Lahm: I don’t think so. I love the game, I love discussing it. But there’s more to life than just football – my wife’s family for example, my own parents, and soon I’ll be a father myself. That’s what counts in life.

team.dfb.de: Have you set up your home for the baby yet?

Lahm: Of course. The thing is, I’ll be away from home, hopefully for another three weeks minimum! And there’s precious little I can do at this stage. All I can do is look forward to holding our little son in my arms.

team.dfb.de: So there will soon be a new Lahm in the national team?

Lahm: My parents were great role models. They were always there when I needed them, giving me advice, but in the end they let me take my own decisions. The key thing is – and that’s my message I tell to all the kids taking part in my summer clinics or in projects organised by my foundation – for children to have fun playing the game. So if our child turns out not to enjoy football or any other sport, then so be it. I for one will definitely not force him to follow in my footsteps.

team.dfb.de: Some of your team-mates have been dads for some time now – have they offered some advice yet?

Lahm: I’ve talked to Per, who’s one of the younger dads in the squad, and he told me we’re in for a mighty change in our lives! But I’m looking forward to that.

team.dfb.de: First of all, there’s this tournament to cope with. Everybody seems to see Spain and German meet in the final – again…

Lahm: Yes, but there some other usual suspects, such as Portugal, the Netherlands, England, France… Rarely ever in football do things work out the way the experts predict. Take the Champions League, for example. Not many people believed in Chelsea winning the title.

team.dfb.de: Post-Munich, did you have to shoulder special responsibility and talk to your colleagues in the national team?

Lahm: It’s quite normal for us Bayern players to bring up the subject, isn’t it? But let’s not forget that prior to the final, we had played a fantastic Champions League season! I mean you don’t get any free rides to the final. Before we beat Real Madrid, the Spanish champions no less, we had eliminated English champions Manchester City. This is what we’ve got to think of when going into this tournament.

team.dfb.de: Holger Badstuber said that having lost that final, his hunger is all the greater now…

Lahm: That’s what it was like in 2010, and still we didn’t win the World Cup. But that’s sport – there is simply no guarantee that you ever win any international trophy! We’ve got the quality, we’ve got the potential, but from there to lifting the trophy is a long, long way to go!

team.dfb.de: What would lifting that trophy in Kyiv on 1 July mean to you?

Lahm: Winning a World or European champions title is the biggest thing, there’s no greater prize in football. I do have that goal, that dream. As I’ve said, we’ve got the potential. Germany used to have a hard time playing against teams that defend deep, but now we’re able to respond to primarily defensive tactics. This team has character, we’re all professionals, we’re ready. That’s all there is to say.