“Mexico and Italy are countries where you can almost taste the atmosphere from the teeming stands when you're on the field, and that's a real motivation for a player.”

German football pundit and former player and manager

Lothar Matthaus is a German former professional footballer, manager and pundit. He is best known for captaining West Germany to victory at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, and for winning the Ballon d'Or. In 1991, Matthaus became the first FIFA World Player of the Year, and he remains the only German to have won the award. He was later included in the Ballon d'Or Dream Team in 2020, recognition of a long career at the top level of the game.