#4 Oliver Kahn and Lothar Matthaus show their human side
It’s a well-known fact that nobody beats Germany in a penalty shoot-out – in major tournaments they’ve won five of seven shoot-outs and their players have scored 28 of their 33 penalties. So realistically nobody could blame the players of Die Mannschaft for gloating against their usually crestfallen opponents.
Thankfully though, even the most ruthless German players clearly have a heart. This was on display in West Germany’s infamous 1990 shoot-out win against England in the semi-finals of the World Cup. After Stuart Pearce missed an earlier penalty, it fell on the shoulders of Chris Waddle to score and keep his team in the game.
Waddle fired the ball way over the bar and England were out, but Germany’s Lothar Matthaus – arguably the finest midfielder in the world at the time – didn’t celebrate, instead, he headed over to the fallen Waddle to console him and help him to his feet.
While it wasn’t for the German national team, legendary goalkeeper Oliver Kahn then repeated Matthaus’ actions when Bayern Munich defeated Valencia on penalties to win the Champions League in 2001. After saving the key penalty from Mauricio Pellegrino, rather than celebrate, Kahn headed over to console his opposite #1, Santiago Canizares, who had collapsed in tears, a broken man.
It’s one thing to be a gallant loser, but a gallant winner is even more impressive.
