I joined Bayern at the age of 11, and from then on it was all about being up to the competition. It doesn't matter who you face, you are always the favorite. You learn this at a young age. And this continues throughout your career at Bayern Munich, you are always the favorite or one of the favorites in every competition you are involved in.

Philipp Lahm

Many great teams have players who have come through the youth system or have been at the club for a long time as their captains. I'm thinking of Steven Gerrard at Liverpool, John Terry at Chelsea, Raul at Real Madrid, as well as Puyol at Barcelona and Gary Neville at Man United.

Philipp Lahm

Time Great Youth

I have played football since I was five years old. This is my core skill and it will always remain so.

Philipp Lahm

Years Year Will

Sporting behaviour means fair behaviour. This is the player's task, not the referee's.

Philipp Lahm

Tin Task T

It's not enough to buy good players, one has to develop a team.

Philipp Lahm

Good Team Tea

History shows that it is incredibly tough for a defender to be named Footballer of the Year because over the course of a year there is normally always a forward who steals the headlines up front.

Philipp Lahm

War History Year

In football, surprises are always possible.

Philipp Lahm

Ways Way T

Cruyff's idea was, quite literally, to play football - nothing more, nothing less. His idea of how football should be played was based not on controlling the opponent, but on the ball and the game.

Philipp Lahm

Thing Thin T

Our sport needs lethal strikers, goalscorers, heroes. But football is much more than the moment of triumph.

Philipp Lahm

Mom Men Triumph

The most important thing is that we play as a team. It means to attack together but to defend together as well.

Philipp Lahm

Well Together Thing

Football is teamwork, unity, defence, assists, sacrifice.

Philipp Lahm

Work Unity Unit

We make adjustments and changes before and sometimes also during the games in order adapt to the opposition. The manager will, for example, tell the striker to make different runs or position the central midfielders slightly differently in relation to each other.

Philipp Lahm

Time Men Change

Clubs like Manchester United or Barcelona have a system, and then you hire personnel who fit this system.

Philipp Lahm

You Who United

If you do the job out there on the pitch and you have it under control, as in my case, you want more. You want more responsibility. You want to take care of it all. That is the case with me.

Philipp Lahm

Car You Wit

Except for two years in Stuttgart, I have always worn the FCB jersey.

Philipp Lahm

Art Years Year

I experienced how Pep Guardiola worked every day. He had football on his mind round the clock: 'What system does the opponent like to play? How do I want to set up my team, who do I want in which position?'

Philipp Lahm

Work Experience Worked

AC Milan would never have been the same club without Paolo Maldini or Franco Baresi and they certainly would have never had the same amount of success.

Philipp Lahm

Success Would Without

I joined Bayern at the age of 11, and from then on it was all about being up to the competition. It doesn't matter who you face, you are always the favorite. You learn this at a young age. And this continues throughout your career at Bayern Munich, you are always the favorite or one of the favorites in every competition you are involved in.

Philipp Lahm

Pet Car Age

Every single player has to take responsibility for what they do. Look at the Manchester United team that won the Champions League in 2008, they didn't have a 'leader' like Roy Keane any more.

Philipp Lahm

Won Very United

I think that it is advantageous to join Bayern Munich at a young age.

Philipp Lahm

Age Young You

Any business or club has to have a hierarchy. Everybody needs to know and understand his role in the overall structure. Bayern Munich is no different.

Philipp Lahm

Business Very Us

To grow up and play for FC Bayern Munich and eventually Germany has been truly a dream come true.

Philipp Lahm

I last played in Dubai in the summer of 2009 and it was still over 40 degrees in the evening. It was extremely exhausting and absolute madness.

Philipp Lahm

If you want to measure yourself with Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester United, you, as Bayern Munich, need a philosophy. That must be the aim of the club.

Philipp Lahm

Looking back at my matches since 2002, there is one main criterion for me which marks a club which is successful in the long-term: big players, who have grown with their clubs, whose names are tied to the success and who have a 100 per cent identification with the team, the club and its history.

Philipp Lahm

To achieve success in this game you need specific talents and attributes. But we also have to adapt to the fact that we work in the public eye, with all its pros and cons.

Philipp Lahm

For me it's more difficult to play against the quicker wingers, but for the team it's perhaps more difficult to face players that are good passers, because one through ball can take the whole team out of the game.

Philipp Lahm

In the past, we won tournaments with lots of fighting and lots of hard running.

Philipp Lahm

Klinsmann was the shining hero of the 2006 World Cup when Bayern took him on.

Philipp Lahm

We practically only practiced fitness under Klinsmann, there was very little technical instruction and the players themselves discussed the way they would play a game before the match.

Philipp Lahm

Felix Magath works with pressure. At first, we didn't know where we stood with him. That prompted the players to give their best because they wanted to play, but after a while the players knew where they stood and Magath no longer received the same effect.

Philipp Lahm

We have always found it easier, and still do, when the opponent plays football as well, when they don't just think in defensive terms, don't just sit inside their penalty box. It's just nicer when the opponent plays football.

Philipp Lahm

It's obvious that I'd like to keep the captain's armband. The job gives me a great deal of enjoyment. Why should I then give it up by choice?

Philipp Lahm

I have no problems with homosexuals whatsoever.

Philipp Lahm

An openly gay footballer would be exposed to abusive comments.

Philipp Lahm

As a young footballer I used to look up to a number of stars for inspiration and I understand what Bhaichung must have done for all young Indians aspiring to be footballer.

Philipp Lahm

I've practically grown up with FC Bayern Munich since the age of 11. In my case, a talent scout noticed me when I was playing for a local youth team at Gern in Munich.

Philipp Lahm

Those who have achieved success in football have a degree of responsibility to be open and honest about our 'calling,' our passion.

Philipp Lahm

I consider it a privilege and duty to pass on the experience and knowledge I have accumulated in 20 years of experience at club and national team level with Bayern and Germany.

Philipp Lahm

I have climbed every step of the football ladder, from kicking a ball about in Munich's Olympic Park to becoming a junior at Bayern, signing professional terms, establishing myself in the first team and taking the captain's armband.

Philipp Lahm

Of course, the moment when the ball hits the net, that's fascinating for kids playing the game and motivates them to join a club.

Philipp Lahm

I believe that when Fifa hands out an award, it should not be a marketing prize that solely honours the protagonists of a media-crazy sport.

Philipp Lahm

When I played for Stuttgart, I met Manchester United and Chelsea. With United, I immediately think of the duels with Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes and with Chelsea, it was John Terry. Those players are symbols of their clubs and the success they had at that time.

Philipp Lahm

Big teams need a core of players who have their roots at their clubs, who grow with their clubs and who embody the culture. Representing it on the pitch and outside as well.

Philipp Lahm

At Euro 2004 - my first as a player - Greece won the title. A team nobody thought could win it.

Philipp Lahm

In every part of our society, rules have to be questioned and adapted.

Philipp Lahm

We should not discuss refereeing performances but support decisions to help their work.

Philipp Lahm

The abolition of the double sanction for a foul in the box is a welcome change. There are times that you cannot help but stop your opponent in the box, with your momentum forcing you to make a challenge. Fouls can't be avoided in that situation but your intention was fair.

Philipp Lahm

You can never know if there will be a second Cruyff, someone with a great personality who can grow up and make it into the squad of the club they love. But what is certain is that, in the Champions League, there will be big clubs producing these players forever.

Philipp Lahm

It's our responsibility as experienced and successful players to manage our powers in order to be able to give 100 per cent in the right moments.

Philipp Lahm

I played at full-back for 10 years, I enjoyed it, and I had success there, so I can never regret being a defender.

Philipp Lahm