The arc of Philipp Lahm’s career had the rhythm of someone meticulously checking items off a bucket list. He won eight German championships with Bayern Munich, the team he supported as a child. He was captain for six years. He led the club to a domestic and European treble. A year later he led Germany to World Cup glory.
Now, a few years after his retirement, Lahm has become a respected figurehead for German football as a whole: smart, thoughtful, discreet by nature, but outspoken when necessary. He has held a handful of honorary ambassadorships but was given a real job in 2020, as Euro 2024 tournament director.
But despite everything else he has achieved, Lahm will always be remembered in his home country as the man who ushered in the Sommermarchen, the fairytale summer, of 2006. That year’s entire World Cup became everything it meant to Germany at the time and everything it meant. now means to Germany, started with his goal in the opening match, in Munich, against Costa Rica.
