Lahm the perfect man to lead Löw’s modern Germany

On the two previous occasions Germany have lost in the final of a European Championship, they have come back four years later to win the tournament.

They did it in 1980 and they did it again in 1996. The way they’re playing at the moment, with an in-form striker in Mario Gomez capitalising on their precise and rhythmical build-up, Philipp Lahm could be lifting the Henri Delaunay trophy in Kiev on July 1.

If he does so, following Franz Beckenbauer, Bernhard Dietz and Jurgen Klinsmann, Lahm would be the shortest German captain to lead his nation to a major title. That may sound like a trivial statistic but it is telling of the modern Germany.

There was always more to the Germans than their efficient stereotype may have suggested, but Jogi Löw’s side is emphatically not a side based on physicality. Previous German sides usually at least had the option of bullying opponents, but not Löw’s side. Lahm may not catch the eye as much as Mesut Ozil and Bastian Schweinsteiger, both of them excellent last night in the victory over the Netherlands, but he is just as important to the smooth running of the side, both in terms of his discipline and energy from left-back and his calm, decisive leadership.

Like the majority of the world’s best players, he is 5ft 7ins. He is interesting without being colourful, espouses liberal political views and has even fronted an anti-speeding campaign. He is a perfect wipe-clean poster-boy of professionalism.

When he felt Bayern were going awry he spoke out as a true leader should, not with cavilling words of self-interest but with painful home truths; although he ended up being fined for that 2009 unauthorised interview with Suddeutsche Zeitung, his words promoted a rethink and a policy of slightly scattergun spending was replaced by a focus on the club’s core philosophy and youth development. An autobiography, The Subtle Difference, came out last year in which he devastatingly analysed various coaches he had worked under, being particularly critical of Rudi Voller, who resigned as national coach after Germany’s first-round exit in Euro 2004. Lahm is a footballer who knows his mind and isn’t afraid to speak it when he deems it necessary.

Perhaps his iconic game came in the semi-final of the Euros four years ago. Most will probably remember the game for his surge onto Thomas Hitzlsperger’s pass in injury-time and his right-footed finish into the top-left corner. Who remembers now that it had been Lahm who Sabri Sarioglu had beaten four minutes earlier to cross for Semih Senturk to tickle past Jens Lehmann to equalise? Well, Lahm does, actually.

Refreshingly, in a world in which self-aggrandisement comes as naturally to most players as breathing, he had the decency after being named man of the match to look embarrassed and admit there had probably been more worthy recipients.

“You just burst with emotions,” Lahm said of his winner then. “You can see all the squad, the staff hugging each other and it epitomises the team spirit. Words can’t describe it. But I also realised I was partly at fault for the equaliser.”

He knew his goal was only meaningful, knew his moment of glory was only glorious, because of a mistake he had made.

That is typical of him. He looks like a slightly goofy head boy, and that is pretty much how he acts. When he became the first national team player to speak out in support of gay players, he was awarded a Toleranz-Preis by the Weimar Gay Triangle. During the last European Championship, his face was hard to miss in Germany, adorning boards all over the autobahn network.

“Raser sind so cool, [People who speed are this cool]” reads the caption, with Lahm holding thumb and forefinger no more than an inch apart, as though to suggest that driving fast may be a substitute for deficiencies of a personal nature.

And, as though that weren’t do-gooding enough, he also runs a foundation to help disadvantaged children in Africa and Europe and has three times been an ambassador for World Aids Day.

At Stuttgart, where he went on loan aged 20 and spent two impressive years, he excelled on the left when Thomas Hinkel was the man in possession on the right, but on returning to Bayern, he ended up playing on the right (he is actually right-footed, although the distinction is largely academic) to accommodate Marcell Jansen. He soon impressed, his tireless running earning him the nickname “Wireless-Lahm” (a pun on wireless-LAN, apparently) from Mehmet Scholl.

That ability to switch flanks has been a boon, playing on the left for the national side now and the right for Bayern.

Last night, his forward sallies were more limited than usual but that was because of the need to stifle his Bayern club-mate Arjen Robben, forcing Robben infield where he became ineffectual. Lahm did his job with calm, unflashy, technically-gifted and efficient: the model of Löw’s modern Germany.