I was certainly no Maradona. I was a very fast player. When I saw a space, I used it. When I went past somebody, he didn't catch up with me again. I was a player who came with a run-up. What Maradona could see in a small space, I saw over long distances.

Lothar Matthaus

Space Wit Who

I live in Budapest and saw how the football helped the Hungarian people to be happy.

UN T Saw

I was certainly no Maradona. I was a very fast player. When I saw a space, I used it. When I went past somebody, he didn't catch up with me again. I was a player who came with a run-up. What Maradona could see in a small space, I saw over long distances.

Lothar Matthaus

Space Wit Who

Maradona, yes! Diego was very fast, with good skills and brilliant dribbling. Many players are fast but cannot control the ball, but he was amazing.

Lothar Matthaus

Good Amazing Yes

People talk about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but you need an Iniesta to win the big titles.

Lothar Matthaus

You Win Titles

I'm actually a very simple person. A very normal man.

Lothar Matthaus

Very T Son

Nobody needs to talk about the history of Manchester United because everybody knows it.

Lothar Matthaus

History Very Use

To speak of Mexico '86, I can make it short and speak only of Maradona. I never saw a player who dominated a World Cup like he did in '86.

Lothar Matthaus

World Cup World Who

Andres Iniesta is the magic man, not just for Barcelona but also for Spain.

Lothar Matthaus

Us T Spain

I've played at five World Cups, including one in the U.S. where the distances between the stadiums were also big.

Lothar Matthaus

World Cups World Cup World

As a player, you'd rather be up against Barcelona, Real Madrid, or Bayern. Big clubs. Great atmosphere. Real excitement.

Lothar Matthaus

Men Great You

One day I'd like to show what I can do as a coach in Germany. But I won't bend over backwards for a job in the Bundesliga and lock myself in my house for 24 hours just to win other people's approval.

Lothar Matthaus

War Won Win

Both Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic are classy players, top midfielders. They play for Real Madrid and Barcelona. That tells you everything.

Lothar Matthaus

You Very Van

The best day of my career was probably winning the World Cup!

Lothar Matthaus

Car World Cup World

If you concede early against a quality team, you have to play more openly - and can get picked off.

Lothar Matthaus

You Team Tea

I love Paul Pogba.

Lothar Matthaus

Love Paul Pa

You cannot always blame others if things go wrong.

Lothar Matthaus

You Wrong Ways

When you have results, you can make a difference, and when you make a difference, you can win the Ballon d'Or.

Lothar Matthaus

You Win T

When Messi gets the chance to go one against one, he is very difficult to stop on his own.

Lothar Matthaus

Chance Very Top

Important in a big tournament is how you start. With a great match at the start, you can distance yourself from the unrest from outside. And it increases the respect among opponents.

Lothar Matthaus

Respect Men Great

Competition is good for any player as long as they react the right way and use it as motivation.

Lothar Matthaus

Pet Good Way

I like football. It's fun winning the ball from someone. It's fun shooting at goal. It's fun hitting a ball over 60 metres that arrives. It's like in golf: if you hit a ball, and it flies and flies and flies, you enjoy it.

Lothar Matthaus

I am happy when Bayern win.

Lothar Matthaus

Nolito is not a left winger - he is a central player.

Lothar Matthaus

I think football is football, politics is politics.

Lothar Matthaus

All my family worked for Puma. My mother worked there, and my father was the guy that opened and closed up in the evening. We lived in the neighbouring building - just a couple of steps, and I would be in the Puma factory. All 300 people that worked there knew me; it was my adventure playground. I knew everything, even how to make a shoe sole.

Lothar Matthaus

Age is just a number when you possess real quality and a game plan.

Lothar Matthaus

Every good German team has strong leadership in the side.

Lothar Matthaus

Toni Kroos leaving the German national team would hurt me very much.

Lothar Matthaus

I often have the feeling that Ozil does not feel comfortable in the Germany jersey, that he is not free, almost as if he does not want to play at all. There is no heart, no joy, no passion.

Lothar Matthaus

Niko Kovac had to understand the system inside Bayern, to realise that this is a very different club to Eintracht Frankfurt, where he was before.

Lothar Matthaus

Muller isn't a number seven, a number nine, nor a number 10. He is everything and in between.

Lothar Matthaus

I hold Jonas Hector in high esteem, and he is a good player.

Lothar Matthaus

Sancho is a player who has everything. He has fantastic speed, great technique, a good eye for his colleagues, and that key pass. Everything he does, he pulls off at high speed at the right moment. For me, he is a perfect player. The ability he has is instinctive, natural. You cannot teach that brilliance.

Lothar Matthaus

Football is not only sunshine.

Lothar Matthaus

My wife is from Russia. I like the country, the mentality of the people.

Lothar Matthaus

Mexico and Italy are countries where you can almost taste the atmosphere from the teeming stands when you're on the field, and that's a real motivation for a player.

Lothar Matthaus

Winning the World Cup was just the most emotional experience.

Lothar Matthaus

I think my breakthrough was at the World Cup 1986.

Lothar Matthaus

I had very good players around me in the team, like in the German national team. Andreas Brehme was one of my best partners in the team because he had good eyes; he could always hit the best ball.

Lothar Matthaus

Diego Simeone, the coach from Atletico Madrid, was a very strong player as a midfielder.

Lothar Matthaus

When I'm with friends, when I have time, I like to play soccer, and I think it's still my passion, still my love. I'm not crazy to do it every day, but sometimes when I see the ball, I like to kick the ball.

Lothar Matthaus

Bayern is always a team that can win the Champions League title in Europe.

Lothar Matthaus

If someone plays six World Cups, they deserve to be congratulated.

Lothar Matthaus

Soccer is the main sport in Mexico; it's very important for the Mexican people. It's their passion - it's their religion - and Mexican football was always one of the best in the world.

Lothar Matthaus

Striker Sandro Wagner is very strong, a true No. 9, who really made his mark playing with Germany in the Confederations Cup.

Lothar Matthaus

When I was a player, and since then, we have never been so snobbish as to go into a tournament saying, 'We will win this World Cup.' We aren't like that.

Lothar Matthaus

The typical German coach wants things done one way - his way.

Lothar Matthaus

If Messi is on top form, then his team can win everything.

Lothar Matthaus

It is possible to stop Messi. Teams do it when he plays for Argentina. But the Barcelona Messi is different.

Lothar Matthaus

He just has the knack, the ability, to do something special and crucial. This is Messi.

Lothar Matthaus