I played six major tournaments from 2004 to 2014: three World Cups and three European Championships. Euro 2012 took place in Poland and Ukraine. We played the group stage in Kharkiv and Lviv. Ukraine has a great football culture – that was noticeable.
It has also had great footballers. Andriy Shevchenko, Igor Belanov and Oleg Blokhin were Europe’s footballers of the year. Valeriy Lobanovskyi, the legend of the Dynamo Kyiv bench, continues to influence European football; many system coaches refer to him. In 2001, when I was making my way towards the professional team at Bayern Munich, Germany had a difficult task against Ukraine in the World Cup playoffs. Michael Ballack and Oliver Kahn had cause to fear for their participation in the tournament because Ukraine were strong opponents.
When I was captain of the national team, I saw myself as Germany’s representative. So before tournaments I dealt with the host country. Before we travelled to Euro 2012, I talked about the political situation in Ukraine with the German magazine Der Spiegel. The young democracy was in danger; I found the way Viktor Yanukovych dealt with the opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko very questionable. So I called on Michel Platini to stand up for human rights and press freedom in Ukraine. The Uefa president said: “I don’t care what Mr Lahm says. I don’t do politics, I do football.”
At that time, people wondered: will Ukraine remain a democratic country? And today, Ukraine is fighting for the freedom of Europe.
On 12 June the 1,000th international match in the history of the Germany men’s football team will take place. The German Football Federation has chosen the right opponent: Ukraine. Football is a good way to send a signal for peace and international understanding. The best way to do that is with international matches, which are becoming increasingly important in these changed times.
Thank God, especially in Europe, where football has its roots, there are these cross-border competitions. That’s where you get to know each other, where you cultivate togetherness. In the next few days and weeks, millions of people will be on the move here again. Croats will meet the Dutch, Spaniards the Italians. Kosovo plays against Romania, Belgium against Austria, Iceland against Slovakia. Gibraltar and France will compete, separated by 200 places in the world rankings. Germany travel to Poland for another test match, and one of the European Championship opponents of Germany’s Under-21s is Israel. In these encounters, Europe is coming to terms with its past – and its future.
Football, which involves many different strengths and types, can achieve much more than results. Poland, for example, has taken in more than one and a half million refugee Ukrainians, more than any other nation. The fact that the two neighbouring countries held an international football tournament together a decade earlier certainly contributed a little to this solidarity.
The national team is something special. That’s because of the rules everyone has agreed on: coaches are not allowed to buy stars, players can’t choose who they play for. In the national team, footballers are reminded of their personal development.
I wore the German jersey 113 times. That was something different from my club. As a child, there had hardly been anything more important to me than the national team. Waiting two years for the next tournament seemed like an eternity. The 1990 World Cup shaped me as a football fan, and my memories of Andy Brehme’s penalty are still vivid today. During my active time, they blurred with the real events. At every international match, I played in my mind with my idols Lothar Matthäus, Brehme and Pierre Littbarski.
In 2006, my first World Cup, we celebrated the “Sommermärchen” in Germany. That’s when I realised for the first time that I was part of a team representing my country – friendly and open-minded. I became at one with my origins; playing football took on a deeper meaning. Next year we will meet again in my home country – on 14 June it will be one year to go to the Euros. It’s good that the tournament will be played with 24 nations. To be there in Europe is the greatest thing. In 2006, the masses were in the streets, and next year we will repeat this celebration of different nations, generations and simply of everyone.
Football, thanks to its popularity, is a means to an end. People distract themselves, celebrate exuberantly and, despite all the rivalry, come together. This package of entertainment and community is unique; you don’t get that anywhere else. I watch football today under these auspices.
This is my development: from a fan who admires his idols, to a player who stands on the pitch with them in his mind 113 times and feels responsibility to represent his democratic country, to a captain who looks at where his team is going. And now I am the director of a tournament where we want to celebrate and strengthen European values. That also determines my view of Ukraine. What is happening there not only threatens them, but also us. That’s why an international match against Ukraine is an excellent idea.
