Lothar Matthäus Net Worth 2024

Short introduction

The Franke is a former football player who became a European champion in 1980 and world champion in 1990 as a captain with the German national team. At his club stations Borussia Mönchengladbach, FC Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, he won several other titles. At first, he worked as a trainer after his active career, but now he is only a TV expert.

Early life

Like most boys at that time, Lothar Matthäus started playing football very early. His first club in his hometown was 1. FC Herzogenaurach there. He also grew up there, although he was born in Erlangen in 1961. He started an apprenticeship as an interior designer at the age of 18. But already in 1979, he moved to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga, where he immediately belonged to the tribe as a midfielder under the then coach Jupp Heynckes.

Career

After these convincing performances in the Bundesliga, Lothar Matthäus was quickly nominated for the German national team and taken to the 1980 European Championships in Rome. There he came in the 3-2 victory over the Netherlands in the group phase for his only assignment when he came on in the 73rd minute for the then captain Bernard Dietz.

But his career continued to climb steeply. He fully established himself in the Bundesliga and took part in the 1982 World Cup, where he only made two short appearances. In 1984, following a lost DFB Cup final with Borussia Mönchengladbach, he followed FC Bayern Munich’s reputation. He stayed there until 1988 before moving on to Inter Milan in Italy.

From there, he returned to Bayern Munich for 8 years before adding another season to the New York Metro Stars.

He then ended his career as an active player and took on various positions as a coach. His first stop was Rapid Vienna, followed by Partizan Belgard, Hungary, Athletico Paranaense, Maccabi Netanja and most recently Bulgaria. Since the end of this task in 2011, he has worked exclusively as a TV expert, primarily at the German pay broadcaster sky.

Career highlights

The greatest success was by far the win of the 1990 World Cup in Italy, when he not only led the German team to the title as captain but also made a decisive contribution to this success with strong performances and his own goals. In the same year he was also voted (unofficial) world soccer player of the year. An award that no other German player has ever been granted.

At the club level, he won several national titles. These include 7 German championships, 1 Italian, 2 German cup wins and two UEFA Cup titles. In 1980 he did this right at the beginning of his career with Borussia Mönchengladbach, again in 1991 with Inter Milan. In the Champions League or its predecessor, however, he lost the final twice (1987 and 1999 with FC Bayern Munich), so he lacks this title in his collection.

There are also a number of individual awards, of which only the most important are mentioned:

In 1991 he was elected a second time as a world footballer, this time officially by FIFA. In 1990 he was also voted Europe’s athlete of the year, as well as Germany’s soccer player of the year, which was to be repeated again in 1999.

Since 2001 he has been one of only six honorary captains of the German national team, alongside the late Fritz Walter, Uwe Seeler, Franz Beckenbauer, Jürgen Klinsmann and Philipp Lahm.

Famous quotes

Since he has been in public since the age of 19, there is a huge pool of quotes from Lothar Matthäus. Only the highlights are to be mentioned here.

• “We just can’t put the sand in our heads now.”
• “We are a well intrigued group.”
• “Yes, the back is the Achilles’ heel of the body.”
• “I hope we have a little bit lucky.”
• “A Lothar Matthäus cannot be defeated by his body, a Lothar Matthäus decides his own destiny.”
• “I noticed right away that it is a pain when you press on it.”

Amazing facts

The German record national player 150 appearances holds many other records. He holds the record for most World Cup appearances by a player, with 25 games and 5 World Cup appearances.

In his private life, his life was quite moving. Lothar Matthäus had a total of five different wives with whom he had four children. His last marriage, which has been going since 2014, was with a woman 27 years younger with whom he also had a son.

To date, at the age of 39, when he took part in the European Championship in 2000, he is the oldest German international. In addition, with his goal from the year before, he is the oldest scorer in the DFB selection at 38.

Nevertheless, he is the only player who twice awarded a penalty in a DFB Cup final. First on penalties for Borussia Mönchengladbach in 1984 against his future club FC Bayern Munich. Then in 1999 with FC Bayern against Werder Bremen, whereupon Bremen and not Bayern won the DFB Cup.