Germany’s landmark match against Ukraine will promote peace and solidarity

I played six major tournaments from 2004 to 2014: three World Cups and three European Championships. Euro 2012 took place in Poland and Ukraine. We played the group stage in Kharkiv and Lviv. Ukraine has a great football culture – that was noticeable.

It has also had great footballers. Andriy Shevchenko, Igor Belanov and Oleg Blokhin were Europe’s footballers of the year. Valeriy Lobanovskyi, the legend of the Dynamo Kyiv bench, continues to influence European football; many system coaches refer to him. In 2001, when I was making my way towards the professional team at Bayern Munich, Germany had a difficult task against Ukraine in the World Cup playoffs. Michael Ballack and Oliver Kahn had cause to fear for their participation in the tournament because Ukraine were strong opponents.

When I was captain of the national team, I saw myself as Germany’s representative. So before tournaments I dealt with the host country. Before we travelled to Euro 2012, I talked about the political situation in Ukraine with the German magazine Der Spiegel. The young democracy was in danger; I found the way Viktor Yanukovych dealt with the opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko very questionable. So I called on Michel Platini to stand up for human rights and press freedom in Ukraine. The Uefa president said: “I don’t care what Mr Lahm says. I don’t do politics, I do football.”

At that time, people wondered: will Ukraine remain a democratic country? And today, Ukraine is fighting for the freedom of Europe.

On 12 June the 1,000th international match in the history of the Germany men’s football team will take place. The German Football Federation has chosen the right opponent: Ukraine. Football is a good way to send a signal for peace and