As part of the cultural programme series "History Makers", Germany world champion and iconic international Lothar Matthäus recalled the greatest moments of his career at the FIFA Museum in front of an audience of more than 100 people. One expression was a recurring theme throughout the entire evening.
Of course, Lothar Matthäus also had to answer the question at the FIFA Museum that he was probably asked most often in his long career: Why hadn't he taken the decisive penalty in the Final of the 1990 FIFA World Cup™? The simple story is the broken shoe that he had to replace in halftime. But the captain of the 1990 World Cup team also provided another justification: intuition! Unlike the penalties before in the tournament, he felt uneasy because his fresh footwear. But he was convinced that his friend and teammate Andreas Brehme would hit the net. So Brehme took the shot and scored.
In general, Matthäus’ intuition ran like a red thread through his unique career, which he looked back on during the live talk at the FIFA Museum. If he was sure of something, he would attempt the feat. If he believed he wouldn’t, he trusted his intuition. Such as the 1990 penalty in Rome.
A transfer of intuitive proportions
Matthäus recalled that his 1984 move to Bayern Munich away from Borussia Mönchengladbach, the club close to his heart since childhood, was an intuitive move. He believed that the move would mean the chance at titles as well as a better standing within the national team. The ambitious Matthäus had not been at all satisfied with having only been substituted in twice in his first World Cup participation, in Spain in 1982. The plan worked. Before moving to Inter Milan in 1988 he won three German championships and one German cup with Bayern - and he went to the 1986 World Cup in Mexico as a starter.
