Abu Dhabi: The biggest dilemma German coach Joachim Loew will face heading into the World Cup in Russia to defend their title will be to pick his final squad as he is spoilt for choice, former World Cup-winning captain Lothar Matthaus.
“Even in the absence of key players like Philipp Lahm or Bastian Schweinsteiger, the talent pool of Germany is so much that Loew will be forced to take some tough calls,” said Matthaus in an exclusive interview with Gulf News at the Emirates Palace, where he was part of a Bundesliga and Eintracht Frankfurt event to promote German football in the UAE.
Matthaus, who was named the Ballon d’Or winner in 1990 for his heroics at Italia ’90, was of the view it was better for Loew to have too many players at his disposal than struggle with too few.
“I think in the end, the coach is happy to have so many players,” he said. “He might have to say to good players ‘We don’t have a place for you to Russia’. But I think in the national interest it is a nice problem for the coach to be in.
“For results, Loew will have to do that and maybe make a few players unhappy. Franz Beckenbauer was in a similar situation in 1986 and 1990 where he had to say no to some of the players ‘you are not good enough or I have some other plans’ but yes it is difficult for coach.”
Matthaus captained West Germany to the 1990 World Cup final win over Argentina while being named in the All-Star team alongside Andreas Brehme and Jurgen Klinsmann.
Matthaus credited the German Football Association and the clubs from Bundesliga for putting his country in such a position where they don’t have to worry about the void left by players departing the national team.
“We have the set-up which is simply the best in the world,” Matthaus said. “Bundesliga has all clubs with academies and they have be the prime source of finding new talent, both for clubs and national team from there. Our leagues matches are packed and stands are always full, so there is a lot of interest for the sport,” said Matthaus, who felt that the current team was stronger than the one that clinched the World Cup last time round.
“We are again one of the favourites to win the World Cup. I would say we have improved further. We have some quality players coming in place of players like Lahm and Schweinsteiger. Talent is so much and we showed that by winning the Confederations Cup. We also won the U-21 European Championship with the youth team.
Matthaus is also a strong advocate of the Video Assistant Refereeing (VAR) to be an integral part of World Cup in Russia.
“I think VAR is a good idea,” he said. “Sure, it is not perfect but it is a good way to improve football and make it cleaner. When the referee stops the game to see the referral, sure it kills a bit of the atmosphere.
“We show it on the screens in Germany for the fans and that makes it interesting. They come to know why the referee decided that way. Yes at the first moment, one team is happy and then when you change other team gets upset but better to get the right decision. Surely, it will take some time to perfect the system but it is the way forward.”
Matthaus has avoided taking up a coaching job since his retirement from the game just to avoid the stress that comes with it back home.
“I haven’t done that just to avoid the pressure that comes with my name,” he said. “Yes, I know many want to see me as a coach but to match the expectations of the clubs is a task. You can be a best player but coaching is different and you need to have the luck as well that you had as a player.”
