Budweiser Man of the Match: Philipp LAHM (GER)

14 June 2006

Philipp Lahm produced an impressive all-round performance for Germany in their dramatic 1-0 win against Poland, his steady defending and dangerous runs up the wing earning him the Budweiser Man of the Match honours.

The left-back barely put a foot wrong during his 90 minutes on the pitch, never getting caught out of position defensively despite his repeated forays up the wing to support the attack.

He played a number of quality balls into the area, including one late on that found Miroslav Klose, who was unlucky to hit the bar with his header. Lahm almost scored the winner himself in the 80th minute when he worked his way upfield, dribbling between two defenders as he broke into the box, only to see his powerful shot saved by a fully stretched Artur Boruc.

"It was a very difficult job to choose the Budweiser Man of the Match for this match because there were several good players but no outstanding ones," said FIFA Technical Study Group member Gyorgy Mezey. "For the whole game, Philipp Lahm played to a very high standard both in defence and attack, and he did this for the benefit of the team."