I was so obsessed with football that you could say I was taking the goal home with me at night. And then one day the system fell apart.

The realization that you're not always standing down there on the field merely to win, to be successful, was very liberating. One can be successful by helping the team, the other players. All of a sudden I felt the kind of empathy for people that I hadn't felt before.

If I play, I try to concentrate on producing my best.

A Germany team should not be afraid going into a tournament. History shows that we can raise the level of our game when it matters.

I would never have thought I was capable of sitting on the bench as the number two man. And it showed me that you can really achieve everything in life, even the unthinkable, as long as you're willing to work on yourself a little bit.

After the 2006 World Cup, I knew that you don't always need success, success, success on the pitch.

If we perform as a unit and if every single player gives it his very best, everything can happen.