Philipp Lahm
Personal information
Full name	Philipp Lahm
Date of birth	November 11, 1983 (1983-11-11) (age 24)
Place of birth	Munich, West Germany
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position	Left-back / Right-back
Club information
Current club	FC Bayern Munich
Number	21
Youth clubs
?–1995 1995–2003	FT Gern München Bayern Munich Junior Team
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2001–2003 2003–2005 2005–2006 2005–	FC Bayern Munich II → VfB Stuttgart (loan) FC Bayern Munich II FC Bayern Munich	061 0(3) 053 0(2) 002 0(0) 076 0(1)
National team2
2004–	Germany	042 0(2)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 17, 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of June 8, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Philipp Lahm (born November 11, 1983 in Munich, Bavaria) is a German footballer who plays as a defender for Bayern Munich and Germany. He played for Germany at Euro 2004 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and scored the opening goal of the latter tournament. He is considered one of the best young fullbacks in the world, as is shown by his inclusion in the Mastercard All Star Team. He is well known for his pace, dribbling and crossing abilities.

Career

Philipp Lahm developed into a professional football player within the Bayern Munich Junior Team. As Bixente Lizarazu was the main left back for Bayern Munich, Philipp Lahm was loaned to Stuttgart for the 2003/04 and 2004/05 seasons. In July 2005, Philipp Lahm returned to Bayern Munich. However, just before his return to FC Bayern, he suffered a torn cruciate ligament and had to go on rehabilitation. He made his return to Bayern in December 2005.

Although Lahm is right-footed, and while he played as a rightback as a youth, he has also been played effectively at left-back, where his runs with the ball from the left flank and swift cut-ins towards the centre, where he could then shoot with his strong right foot, has been a potent weapon for both Bayern and Germany. However, Lahm has since reverted to right-back, both to accommodate fellow Germany international left-back Marcell Jansen and to replace French rightback Willy Sagnol.

He scored the opening goal of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany against Costa Rica in the 6th minute, cutting inside the area and launching a right foot shot into the top-right corner of the net. He was also the only German player to play all 690 minutes of the 2006 World Cup.

Lahm was nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year 2006 following his outstanding performance in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was in contention alongside fellow Germans Michael Ballack, Miroslav Klose and Jens Lehmann, but the award was won on 18 December 2006 by the Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro. However, he was chosen as the left back for the UEFA Team of the Year 2006.

In June 2007, FIFA announced that Lahm and Owen Hargreaves would visit South Africa in advance support for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.^[1]

On May 16, 2008 FC Bayern signed a new contract with Lahm. His new contract will keep him in Munich until June 20, 2012.^[2]

Germany Goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	28 April 2004	Bucharest, Romania	Romania	5-1	5-1	Friendly
2.	9 June 2006	Munich, Germany	Costa Rica	1-0	4-2	FIFA World Cup 2006

Honors

Club Titles

• Bundesliga: 2003, 2006, 2008
• German Cup: 2003, 2006, 2008
• German Super Cup: 2007

National Team

• Confederations Cup Bronze medallist: 2005
• World Cup Bronze medallist: 2006

Career stats

References