Philipp Lahm retires from international football: Germany captain steps down from national duty less than a week after winning the World Cup
Lahm, only 30, has retired from Germany, according to reports in Germany
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Your support makes all the difference.World Cup winning captain Philipp has retired from international football, according to reports in Germany.
The decision comes less than a week after Lahm, who is still only 30, led Germany to their fourth World Cup win.
Lahm has won 113 caps for Germany in an international career that started in 2004 and looks set to finish with the 1-0 World Cup final win over Argentina in the Maracana.
"I told Jogi Löw on Monday already that I am retiring from international football," Lahm told German newspaper Bild.
"The decision developed during last season."
The president of the German FA, the DFB, Wolfgang Niersbach said: "Philipp has called me this morning and informed me personally about this decision. In the conversation I very quickly realised that it was futile to want to talk him out of it. He was in his tenth year playing for the national team. Not only an outstanding player, but always an absolute role model. I thanked him for everything he has done for the DFB."
Lahm played every minute of the victorious tournament, providing two assists and completing 86.3 per cent of his passes in the seven matches.
Lahm started the tournament in the centre of midfield, where he has been playing to great success under Pep Guardiola, but excelled at right back, where his national team needed him more.
The Bayern Munich man has skippered the national side since Michael Ballack was ruled out of the 2010 World Cup with injury.
He also won 76 per cent of duels in the seven matches, with only Belgium's Daniel van Buyten and Nigeria's Kenneth Omeruo having a better success rate.
Lahm has a stellar record in World Cups; across three tournaments he has played in 18 matches, winning 13 of those, drawing two and losing just three - Germany have reached at least the semi-final in all three of those World Cups.
Lahm lead celebrations in Berlin earlier this week where half a million Germans lined the streets to celebrate the win.
He will continue to play for Bayern. Lahm has captained Bayern to two of his six Bundesliga titles, two of his six DFB-Pokal Cups and the 2013 Champions League, part of a treble that season.
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