Everyone who is keen on football knows an athlete like Philip Lam. Almost all his life he played for Bayern Munich and for 15 years for the German national team, which in the last year of his career led to victory at the World Cup.
You can tell a lot about him, but now we will focus only on the most interesting facts.
Childhood and youth
Like many other German boys, Philipp Lahm was fond of football since childhood. When he was 5 years old, his parents sent him to the Munich Gern club to learn the basics of this sport. There, the future midfielder played until 1995.
Then he moved to Bavaria. Why? Because the head coach of the Bavarian children’s squad, Jan Pinta, saw talent in the boy. He came to see his game in Gern several times. And in the end, he invited the boy to the Bavarian academy.
Absolutely all the coaches who dealt with Philip claimed that he would become an excellent footballer. And German Hummels even allowed himself the following statement: “If Lam does not play in the Bundesliga, then no one will do it.”
However, the first games in the youth championship of Germany happened soon. Moreover, Lam won the youth Bundesliga twice. Interestingly, in the second season he was already the captain of the team.
Carier start
In 2001, Philip Lam joined the reserve of Bavaria. Herman Gerland, then training the roster, still believes that this man is the most talented footballer he has ever trained.
Having successfully proved himself, Lam quickly fell into the field of vision of Ottmar Hitzfeld, the head coach of Bayern Munich. For two years in reserve, Philip played 63 excellent games and scored 3 goals. It is not surprising that Ottmar saw in him the qualities that a base player should possess.
So already in 2002, November 13, footballer Philippe Lam joined the main team. Then Bayern played against Lance, and it was a Champions League match.
It should be noted that in the two years spent in reserve, Philip became a typical flank defender, always turning into an attack. But in Bavaria, then these roles were played by Bixant Lizarazu and Willy Sagnol.
Lama had no chance to break into the base. And so he had to change the club for a while, becoming a rented player.
Transition to Stuttgart
In 2003, Philip Lam joined this club. Looking ahead, it should be noted that in two seasons he played 53 matches and scored 2 goals.
Initially, he was seen as a replacement for the right-back, Andreas Hinkel. However, Felix Magat, who was then training Stuttgart, decided to send Philip to other positions in order to develop his talent. This led to the fact that Lam simply squeezed out Heiko Gerber, who was the main left back.
In the 2003/04 season, he even received the title of second best player in the Bundesliga. The first was Ailton Goncalves da Silva.
The next year was not so successful. Lam did not have enough time to recover after the European Championship, and a new coach appeared in the team - Matthias Zammer. He did not favor Philip. But still, Lam played 16 matches before the Christmas break, of which 14 were at the base.
Then trouble happened - he broke his right leg. Philip Lam returned to the field only on April 9, 2005. And after 5 weeks, he broke the cruciate ligaments. And there, the contract with Stuttgart came to an end.
Return to Bavaria
Continuing to consider the biography of Philip Lam, it should be noted that he returned to the game rhythm only by the beginning of winter 2005. But he recovered from injuries. By the end of that season, Baksant completed his career, and Lam took his place.
He has become a legend. They offered 35 million euros for him, but the German was not going to leave his native club, in which he was also a captain. Throughout his brilliant career, he played 332 matches and scored 12 goals - impressive statistics. Philip Lam would certainly have improved it, but on February 8, 2017 announced that he was completing his career.
The captain of Bavaria said that every time he played, giving himself as much as possible both in training and in matches. And he does not feel that he can continue to match his game.
Lam played his last match against Freiburg. Then, Bayern won with a score of 4: 1. After that, Philip Lam "hung his boots on a nail." And by the way, he became the first football player after Oliver Kahn, who was inducted into the Bayern Hall of Fame.
Career Team
A little attention should be paid to this topic. Philip Lam defended the colors of the German national team for 10 years. With her, he won the following awards:
- Bronze at the world championships 2006 and 2010
- Silver and bronze at the 2008 and 2012 European Championships.
- Gold at the 2014 World Cup.
By the way, Lam ended his career in the national team precisely after a resounding victory at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.