Latest news with #SeppHerbergerAwards
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Like a throttled down Ferrari: Lahm hits out at Italian football
Like a throttled down Ferrari: Lahm hits out at Italian football Philipp Lahm, former soccer player, speaks during an interview before the Sepp Herberger Awards ceremony. Michael Matthey/dpa Former Germany and Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm has criticised the current state of once famed Italian football and compared it to one the nation's iconic car makers. "Today's Italian teams remind me of a Ferrari which, throttled down by 200 horse powers and with a half full tank, runs out of petrol 10 laps before the finish," Lahm said in a column on Tuesday for Zeit online. Advertisement "Even the most beautiful design doesn't help." The statement came before the Champions League quarter-final tie between Bayern and Inter Milan which starts later Tuesday. Lahm acknowledged that the Italian national team was better organized than Germany in their recent Nations League quarter-final which Germany won, but that the Azzurri "could not deal their (Germany's) intensity." "There is a lack of initiative, engagement, athleticism. Italy puts in a much lesser effort than the other four top leagues from Spain, England, France and Germany. The players run less," he said. Advertisement "I read a statistic a few years ago that the Bundesliga team with the lowest scores ran more than the one with the highest in Serie A." The 2013 Champions League and 2014 World Cup winner said that Italian teams lack dynamism which "leads to a quality problem." "Italy hasn't updated its operating system, it works too slowly," he said. Inter are the last Serie A team in the Champions League and the last to win the elite event, in 2010 against Bayern. Lahm said they are "not the favourites" this time. The Italian national team won Euro 2020 but has failed to qualify for the last two World Cups.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Coach Nagelsmann: Germany need to be more variable to win titles
Coach Nagelsmann: Germany need to be more variable to win titles Germany national soccer team coach Julian Nagelsmann attends the Sepp Herberger Awards ceremony. The DFB Foundation presents Sepp Herberger Awards for special projects and activities by non-profit soccer organizations. Michael Matthey/dpa Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann has said that more variability is the missing link for the team to be considered a serious contender for big international titles again. Nagelsmann told Friday's Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland papers that this aspect takes a little longer to implement at national team level than at a club. Advertisement After many bleak years with back-to-back World Cup group stage exits, former Bayern Munich coach Nagelsmann has led the four-time world champions into the Nations League Final Four tournament in June, where a first trophy since the 2017 Confederations Cup is possible. "Now we're slowly back to the status where other teams see us as favourites and are perhaps thinking more about how they might be able to crack the familiar plan," Nagelsmann said. "We have to become a little more variable overall. But this variability takes a little longer than at the club." Nagelsmann said he could not influence this as much as national team coach than in the daily work at club level. But he said that "essential things" have been introduced, which also prompted him to renew his contract until 2028. Advertisement "If I had the feeling that I was only there to create a good atmosphere in the team, that the players were in a good mood - that wouldn't satisfy me," he said. Nagelsmann now sets his sights on the Nations League Finals June 4-8 which Germany hosts in Stuttgart and Munich. Portugal await in the semis, and France or Euro 2024 champions Spain in a possible final. Nagelsmann has often said that winning the title would be an important stepping stone towards next year's World Cup. He said "I am upbeat that we can play a very good semi-final against Portugal and hopefully also win the final" if all his men continue to play on a regular basis and in responsible positions at their clubs. Advertisement Nagelsmann added he was especially looking forward to facing Portugal great Cristiano Ronaldo, saying "you can only raise your hat" to his fitness and power at age 40. 'I think he's an impressive player with an impressive career. I'm looking forward to it and hope that he doesn't rediscover his free-kick qualities against us," Nagelsmann said.'
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Podolski: Müller deserved to make his own decision
Former national soccer player Lukas Podolski stands on the sidelines. Former Germany forward Lukas Podolski has lamented that Bayern Munich icon Thomas Müller reportedly won't have a future as a player at the club after his contract expires in June. Soeren Stache/dpa Former Germany forward Lukas Podolski has lamented that Bayern Munich icon Thomas Müller reportedly won't have a future as a player at the club after his contract expires in June. "In the end it's sad that the club is making this decision for him and not the other way around, that Thomas Müller doesn't have it in his own hands. Because I think he deserved that," the 2014 World Cup champion said on the sidelines of the Baller League matchday on Monday. Advertisement Bayern veteran Müller will not receive a contract extension when his deal ends in June and could retire, the Bild newspaper and Kicker magazine reported at the weekend, without naming their sources. The reports said the 35-year-old had already been informed of the decision following a club meeting two weeks ago. Müller joined Bayern's youth academy in 2000 and made his Bundesliga debut for the club in 2008. Müller is a player who 'has achieved everything with the club and is the face of the club,' Podolski said, and added that deserving players are often not honoured enough. 'If people are only remembered when they are no longer alive, so that you can say, okay, now suddenly a street is being named after them, now suddenly the stadium is being named after them, a grandstand,' he said. 'But sometimes you also underestimate or forget to honour and appreciate players who are currently there too.' Advertisement Former Bayern and German captain Philip Lahm said that Müller's departure would be a great loss. "The club also thrives on role modes. Thomas is an absolute role model - for the club, for the fans and I think for the team as well," the 41-year-old said on the sidelines of the Sepp Herberger Awards ceremony on Monday evening. Lahm had control of the situation when he decided himself to end his career in 2017. 'Ultimately, the player also has to decide what he wants: whether he wants to continue playing or not,' he said. 'I stopped playing when I was 33. It was my decision. I wanted to stop. But that's something each player has to decide for themselves.'
