Lothar Matthaus: India needs good coaches to produce better footballers

«You only get good footballers when they learn from the best coaches. India needs good coaches to produce better footballers,» was the advice that legendary World Cup-winning Germany captain Lothar Matthaus had to offer when he arrived in Kolkata to take up his role as ambassador of the newly launched Bengal Super League (BSL).

The recipient of the first FIFA World Player of the Year wondered why Indian football was languishing at 136th in the FIFA rankings and said the administrators of the sport here should put in place a system where they would introduce quality coaching at the school level.

«A good teacher makes a good student. And if you have a bad teacher or a bad professor, you don’t get good students,» Matthaus assessed the reason behind the underdevelopment of football in a country with the largest population in the world.

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«To start with, you bring the legends, ex-players and renowned coaches to India to teach your coaches. Then these coaches can help the new generation of players. You have to start this at the school level,» he told select media on Sunday.

«For example, Cape Verde, which has only half a million inhabitants, is going to the World Cup. You have the highest population in the world and you are not going to the World Cup? That is not possible. You have to find a system that involves the football federation, the government, the clubs and the academies to work towards a common goal, like you have in cricket, hockey or chess, where you have produced world champions,» the former Germany captain said as he tried to make his new association with Indian football more meaningful.

The legendary defender, who helped Germany win the FIFA World Cup title in 1990, spent much of the day interacting with schoolchildren before attending a few charity events organized by BSL organizers Shrachi Sports.

The legendary defender’s eyes lit up when asked about his rivalry with Argentine superstar Diego Maradona.

«We complimented each other as rivals. I think we took advantage of each other. And in the end, Diego made me bigger and I made him bigger in the process,» Matthaus said fondly as he recalled the time when their rivalry attracted a lot of attention on the field.

«Diego was the best footballer of my time and we enjoyed a football friendship. We were like Messi and Ronaldo. (But) they don’t talk to each other. They don’t party together after the match. But Diego and I had parties after the match. We were friends before the match, big rivals during the match and friends again after the match,» recalls Matthaus, who won the Ballon d’Or after winning the 1990 World Cup.

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Maradona won the battle of wits on his way to establishing his legend in the 1986 World Cup final in Mexico, where Argentina outclassed Germany to lift the crown. Four years later, Matthaus captained his side and engineered a major turnaround as Germany defeated Maradona’s Argentina in the final in Italy to win the title in 1990.

Maradona’s creative genius may have been the reason why Matthaus appears to have developed a preference for fellow countryman Lionel Messi. «I don’t like to say that Messi is better than (Cristiano) Ronaldo. It is very difficult because they are different types of players. Ronaldo is more about strength and physicality, while I think Messi is more the smartest man, and he is more about entertainment. I am a fan of Messi because of his style of football,» the great German explained when asked about his views on the two contemporary superstars of world football.

When asked about his own country’s recent performance, the former German captain sounded disappointed.

“This is not what we expect from the national team,” he said, referring to Germany’s elimination from the group stages at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

What is going wrong with the four-time World Cup winner?

“Lack of passion and camaraderie,” Matthaus felt. «We need the passion that was our plus factor in the 80s. We used to play with passion and love. We played together. And this is what I miss now in the German team. But this is a job for the coach. And when the coach can bring this team together like maybe like we did 10, 15 or 30 years ago, Germany can once again be the team that is in the circle of the favorites,» Matthaus said.

Published on November 17, 2025