India gets the real thing

The World Cup trophy shimmered as Lothar Matthaus held it aloft. Dressed in his dark business suit and standing in the cozy interiors of a five-star hotel....

The World Cup trophy shimmered as Lothar Matthaus held it aloft. Dressed in his dark business suit and standing in the cozy interiors of a five-star hotel,it wasnt quite Italia 90 revisited,still,it was a rare occasion for a city whose tenuous link to the worlds biggest football extravaganza is its love for Brazilian football and an unabashed admiration for Argentine legend Diego Maradona.

Matthaus lost some popularity in this part of the world after his side,West Germany,prevailed over Maradonas Argentina in the 1990 World Cup final. But it was a warm welcome for the German on Friday as he unveiled the FIFA World Cup trophy at its touring stopover in Kolkata.

The most capped German player,with 150 appearances for his country,picked Spain to win the big Cup in South Africa ahead of Brazil or Argentina. Spain have some excellent players. They have everything in them and players who can make a difference, Matthaus said.

What about Germany? Germany are always favourites in any World Cup. We may not have the best of players but team effort makes up for it. It is said that if you beat Germany you can win the Cup. But its not easy to beat Germany, said the former midfielder-turned-sweeper who played five consecutive World Cup finals for his country between 1982 and 1998.

Cant clone greatness

Why have Germany failed to produce another Matthaus? You cant create clones of Matthaus,Pele,Maradona or Brazils Ronaldo. Had Brazil got clones of Pele every five years,they would have been unbeatable, Matthaus said.

According to him,Argentine Lionel Messi is the best player in the world now,while Maradona is the best ever. I havent seen a better player than Maradona. It was always exciting to play against Argentina. He Maradona was fast,but I was faster to catch him and hold him, he said.

I had played against him for the first time in a friendly in 1982. He was a fantastic player. We had mutual respect for each other,apart from the fact that we were rivals on the field, the 48-year-old said.

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Matthaus described winning the World Cup as the greatest moment of his career: 8230;to hold the World Cup as a captain,it was a feeling which cannot be expressed in words. It was everything.

But Bayern Munichs loss to Manchester United in the 1999 UEFA Champions League final was his saddest moment.

Bayern had a one-goal advantage till the 89th minute but United scored twice in the dying moments to win the trophy. Had we concentrated till the last second we would have won the cup, said Matthaus. It was a lesson learnt the hard way never give up a match,never be sure until the last second, he said.

The attack on the Togo team bus at the African Cup of Nations has raised some concerns over security in the upcoming World Cup. Matthaus,however,refused to go deep into it. People in the right position should comment on this. I am not somebody who can clean the problem. Football has nothing to do with what happened, Matthaus said.