Exclusive: Bowing out with World Cup a perfect end for me, says Philipp Lahm

Germany and Bayern Munich legend Philipp Lahm feels football has become very offence orientedPhilipp Lahm has been the prototype of all good things about German football - its resilience, discipline, winning mentality and success. As Bayern Munich marched towards lifting their 10th Bundesliga title in a row, the 2014 World Cup-winning captain Lahm took his time to reflect on his past and look forward towards the changing horizon of modern football in an exclusive interview with the Times of India. Excerpts:You are regarded as one of the greatest defenders of modern football.

What, according to you, are the qualities required to become a good defender?I believe that apart from the central defenders, everyone else now is more or less a midfielder. And so, for an outside defender like me, it's enormously important that you have the balance between offence and defence. However, what I've been missing lately is the art of defending well in one-on-one situations.

Leading Germany to the World Cup in 2014 was a perfect farewell for you. Did you ever believe in such a dream-come-true end to your international career?We are a football nation and you have to believe it because you always have the chance to play for the title. And as you rightly said, quitting the national team with the World Cup was perfect farewell for me.

But there is always luck involved. We believed in it and thank God, it happened. One of the images from that World Cup was you consoling Oscar after that 7-1 win against Brazil.

. .I remember what went through my mind when we scored the fifth goal and took the 5-0 lead before halftime. I was thinking to myself, 'What's going on here?' When you play Brazil in the semifinal of a World Cup and that too in Brazil,