Most deserving team lifted the World Cup: Breitner

KOLKATA: He may be 59, but age certainly hasn't caught up with Paul Breitner. Extremely fit and agile, the legendary German footballer says he is still young enough to do new things in the sport he excelled in for a decade and a half. A World Cup winner with the erstwhile West Germany, Bayern Munich veteran Breitner shares the unique record of scoring in two different World Cup final matches in 1974 when his team triumphed and in a losing cause in 1982.
In Kolkata, with the Bayern Munich All-Star team to play a charity match against the East Bengal All-Star on Wednesday, Breitner took time out to interact with the media on Tuesday. Excerpts:
You started your career as a left-back and then played in the midfield. Has that become a trend these days?
When I was a youth team player, I used to play as an attacking midfielder or an attacker. So I always had this attacking instinct in me. I was a player who you can say was a half-defender and half-midfielder, what the Phillip Lahms, Maicons and Dani Alves of today are. They are all side-backs but are always looking to attack. So I was the first Lahm, Maicon or Alves many years before some of them were even born.
Who is the best you have seen?
For me, the term best applies to one who makes a decisive impact on the game. In that respect, I believe there has been none like Gerd Mueller in the last 50 to 60 years. He could do just anything on the field. The most important thing about him was that he gave you the results, the wins, the trophies. But if you are talking about the present, I'd go for Lionel Messi. He is a complete player, far ahead of his contemporaries. It is a treat watching him produce that kind of brilliance week in and week out for Barcelona.
Do you agree that the Spanish League is the best in the world now?
Certainly not. In most of the top-flight leagues whether it is the Spanish League, Premier League or Italian League, there are only two to three teams fighting for glory. Not so in the German League (Bundesliga). Apart from Bayern Munich, there are at least six to seven other teams who are always in the reckoning. It is the most competitive league of all.
Did you expect Spain to win the World Cup?
I must say the most deserving team lifted the trophy. They had so many players from a single team who have playing together for so long. That helps.
How would you analyse Germany's performance in World Cup?
There was a flair and flow in their game in South Africa. I've to say it was a nice team effort. The coach (Joachim Loew) has done a very good job with the young team. I believe this team can go all the way in 2014.
Who was the find of the World Cup?
Thomas Mueller. He went into the tournament as an unknown lad and, five weeks later, he was one of the biggest stars.