In Germany, football is besides food, drinking, family and job: Paul Breitner

You've been part of great, if not the greatest, German teams. What was different then? How has evolved since?
Football has more than evolved. It's very hard for me to compare the way we played in my times and the way they do today. For me, the most important difference is how football has developed as a business, a big entertainment business. This is a good move forward. On the other hand, football on the pitch has dramatically changed by the way they play at the high-speed passing game. I couldn't imagine that it's possible to play that way. Maybe we played a more charming game, maybe it was more beautiful. But today, football is spectacular.

The current German team is doing very well. After winning the World Cup, they're favourites to win the Euros...
We are always called favourites starting to play any tournament. The reason is that I think Germany is more a football country than Brazil. We have more than 70 million people and 90 per cent love football. The reason for this love and success is that our kids can start playing in a club at the age of 3-4 years, and can play until they die. It means football is besides food, drinking, family and job. Football is everything. This is the secret why we are so successful.

More of a footballing nation than Brazil?
We have so many coaches who are prepared to teach children at the young age. You must know that you have to learn football until the age of 11 or 12. If there's nobody who instructs you the real way of touching or moving till 12, you'll never become a real player. Germany has many coaches, and that's why we are better than Brazil.

What do you think of the team's chances at the European Championships?
We won the World Cup in Brazil. We had some players who decided to retire. That means we had to build a new team, look at young players. We had to see if the players are capable of playing the next World Cup at the same level as the retired ones did. So, in my understanding, Euros is not that important. It's just a test for the new players for the next World Cup.

Can you share some anecdotes about the title-winning German sides. What was the talk in the dressing room? How did you all celebrate winning the World Cup?
I've celebrated every win, every title. Some times, it is very hard to make a difference between the moment you win a certain match to win the League, and when you win the Euros. A special moment is winning the World Cup. If you become World Cup champion, it's the biggest moment in your career, no doubt. But, I remember the moment the referee blew the final whistle at the 1974 World Cup and we became world champions. I remember the first 10-15 seconds. It was some kind of explosion. And then I realised after 15 seconds, hey, I did a good job, it's great, it's fantastic, but it's not a special difference than the other titles. That was it.

At 22, you had won everything that there was to win in football. What kept you going?
I love to play football. I was the same as our World Cup winners of Brazil last year. You could say, 'ok, that's it, let's do something else'. Finish playing football or if you realise you're one of the best players in the world, then you have the obligation to demonstrate this super class, the outstanding level over and over again to the fans. You have to make them happy.

And, is that why you looked for a new challenge and joined Real Madrid?
I joined Real Madrid because Real Madrid tried to buy me, that's all. Two days after the World Cup, they called to ask me if I would join. In 1974 they called me. If Real Madrid calls you even now, you take your bicycle, walk, but u go to Madrid. That club is still above all. Bayern Munich is very close, and year by year, along with Barcelona, we're getting closer. But Real Madrid is the pinnacle. When they called me, I said 'of course'. I started walking.

Most articles about you describe you as a rebel. Is that how you see yourself? was there something you'd have done differently?
I've never been eccentric, I've never been a rebel. It just was when I started, my first contract with Bayern Munich in 1970, I just was the first young player at 18 who always asked 'why'. If I get an order by my president, coach or manager, I said 'why, why should I do it'. And they were shocked. 'What did you do say?' And I said, 'why should I do that? It makes no sense. Give me a reason.' And it was a time a youngster wasn't allowed to ask why. We just had to do what our seniors told us. But I asked a hundred times. And that's when they said 'Hey, this is a rebel. What kind of a guy is he?'. I never felt a rebel. I was taught to ask in order to make sense and this is the way I educated my kids.

Bayern Munich is a force to reckon with in world football. They've had an impeccable record in recent years. What do you think the team does differently, and how much can other teams learn from them?
First of all, I'm convinced we're the best, the most seriously-guided club in the world. We are the only club under the big 50 that has no debt. We've earned the money we spent. We don't need anybody. We don't need any Russian guy, we don't need any Arabic money. Our club has earned money over the last 25 straight years. We live by giving and taking. Not just by taking. This is the big difference.

It's unconventional for a manager to leave Bayern Munich. With Pep Guardiola leaving, how do you think the fans and the players will respond?
At Bayern Munich, we say coaches come and coaches go. Same with players. Pep is used to working for three years. He said prolonging his career for the fourth year in Barcelona was his biggest mistake. Three years are enough. Maybe he will come back. He said the club needs ideas, and it's fair. It's his decision. And I'm convinced after three years, he will leave Manchester City too.

Do you sometimes wish you were playing in this generation?
Not a second, no. I don't want to change for a single second. I can be happy because I got a chance to play in the most beautiful era for all the players. We had time for ourselves and could do what we wanted to do, like people around us. The players of today have no minute to breathe freely. They are paid huge amounts, but for what? I'm very thankful I wasn't born in 1991.

Lastly, what can India do to do become a force in football?
I am convinced India can be a world force in football. You need to organise your football in such a way that kids can start playing at the age of 4-5 in teams that have good coaches. You need to spend money to send your coaches to Europe to learn. And, spend money to get international coaches to India. I've always said, 'spend money not only for stars in the professional league, but spend more for infrastructure'.

KNOW BREITNER
Full name: Paul Breitner
Date of birth: September 5, 1951
Place of birth: Kolbermoor, West Germany
Height: 5 ft 9 1?2 in
Position: Left back, Midfielder

CAREER
Clubs
Years Team Appearances (Goals)
1970–1974 Bayern Munich 109 (17)
1974–1977 Real Madrid 84 (10)
1977–1978 Braunschweig 30 (10)
1978–1983 Bayern Munich 146 (66)

West Germany
Played: 48
Goals: 10

HONOURS
Bundesliga: 5
European Cup: 1
La Liga: 2
Copa del Rey: 1
European Championships: 1
FIFA World Cup: 1