World Cup winner Philipp Lahm to hang up his boots

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Thursday, February 9, 2017

On Tuesday, German ex-football captain and 2014 FIFA World Cup winner Philipp Lahm announced he will retire as a football player at the end of this season. Lahm's current contract is to expire in 2018.

File photo of Philipp Lahm, 2011.
Image: Steindy.

"I have told the club officials that at the end of the season I'm going to stop playing football" ((de))German language: ‍Ich habe den Verantwortlichen Bescheid gesagt, dass ich am Ende der Saison aufhören werde Fußball zu spielen, the 33-year-old defender said. Lahm also declined to fill FC Bayern's sporting director vacancy; "I decided for myself that now is not the right time to join FC Bayern." ((de))German language: ‍ habe ich für mich entschlossen, dass jetzt nicht der richtige Zeitpunkt ist, beim FC Bayern einzusteigen. Matthias Sammer, left the post in July.

Philipp Lahm has been at Munich since the age of eleven. Lahm has played 501 matches in the Bavarian colours, the latest a 1–0 win over VfL Wolfsburg. The Bayern Munich captain lifted the Bundesliga title on seven occasions with the current defending champions Bayern.

Lahm played 113 international matches for Die Mannschaft, and guided Germany to the World Cup victory in Brazil. Apart from the World Cup gold medal and seven league titles, Lahm has also won the UEFA Champions League in 2013 against Bayern's arch rivals Borussia Dortmund 2–1 at the Wembley Stadium, six DFB-Pokal and a FIFA Club World Cup trophy.

Lahm retired internationally in 2014 after the successful World Cup tournament.


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