Philipp Lahm gazes over the pitch he called home for a decade and a half, and allows the memories to flood back. It was June 2006 and the first day of the long, roasting, transformative summer that brought the world to a modern and outwards-facing Germany. He had feared missing the opening game of the World Cup, at Allianz Arena of all places, after elbow surgery and there was a feeling of quiet exultation at being passed fit to play. So the elation was unconfined when, six minutes after kick-off, he cut inside two Costa Rica defenders and scored a sensational goal that set the competition on its way.
“The referee had to test my splint in the dressing room right before the match,” he remembers. “When he said, ‘Yes, no problem, you can play’, that was the greatest thing. I was born about five kilometres away from here, my whole family was in the stadium and many friends too. I didn’t score many, so the goal was a very special moment for me. I released all my joy and didn’t know what to do with my feelings.”
