The players are on vacation, and my days are empty without football. That is what the European Championship does to you. In any case, I hope that Lahm is having a great time doing whatever he is doing at the moment, even if that “whatever” is nothing, simply chilling. Knowing how interested he is in tennis, I wonder if he watched the Wimbledon 2012 final.
Meanwhile, there are some interesting things going on. First of all, Lahm has become an ambassador. For what, you might ask? Boersenblatt.net writes the following:
Philipp Lahm is the recent ambassador for the Reading Foundation. The captain of the German National Team should convey the joy of reading, especially to youngsters.
“Reading is a great opportunity to easily learn something new,” quote Lahm in the report of the Reading Foundation. He believes it very important to encourage the joy of reading from an early age, thus allowing kids to satisfy their natural thirst for knowledge, pursuing their interests and broadening their horizons.
“Philipp Lahm’s involvement is exemplary not only on the pitch. He combines athletic success with a commitment [to work] towards better education and, therefore, is an ideal ambassador for the Reading Foundation,” says Jörg F. Maas, the Chief Executive of the Reading Foundation.
Last year, the 28-year-old Bayern-star’s book “The Subtle Difference” (Kunstmann) became a bestseller, certainly not the worst prerequisite for the engagement as a reading ambassador. (my translation)
Well, one more wonderful thing to add to Lahm’s list. I am curious to know what exactly his responsiblities are.
Also, there has been an interview with Werner Kern, a former recruiter at Bayern. In particular, he recruited young players. And in the interview, he mentions Philipp Lahm.
How much talent and will does a player need to have in order to make it at Bayern?
WK: There are few players like Philipp Lahm. On my first day of work at Bayern, one friend told me while we were at a beer garden, “At your club, there is a player whose name is Philipp Lahm. If he doesn’t make it, I will no longer understand this world.” Lahm was obsessed. In the hallway at home, he, being a 11-year-old, practiced an overhead kick on the mattress. What many do not see, however, is the incredible effort and sacrifice that is behind such a career. (my translation)
Words like these make me want to go back in time and witness the first steps of a player who would go on to become one of the greatest. It is not the first time that people remark how, even at that time, everyone already knew who Lahm was, although he was very young; how determined he was, how talented he was. It must be wonderful to say now that they knew him back then, and I imagine how proud they are of him. I know I would be.
Der Kapitän 