In his famous declaration, Mesut Ozil has recently announced his retirement from the international football. However, he is just 29, so there is no doubt that his club career will continue for a few more years.

That said, four member of the German team who won the World Cup in 2014 have already finished their careers.

Philipp Lahm

No doubt, he could play longer. Following Germany’s triumph in 2014, the team captain Lahm almost immediately retired from the national team, having 113 matches for “Die Mannschaft” under his belt. However, he continued to play for his club Bayern Munich before ultimately retiring in 2017 at the age of 33. Bayern offered Philipp a position of sporting director, but he rejected it. Now the ex-defender prefers to take a break from football and to concentrate on running his business. And after he famously acted as a journalist, having an interview with German chancellor Angela Merkel, some reports suggested that Lahm may become a politician.

Per Mertesacker

Similar to Lahm, the 198-cm defender opted to retire from international football after his biggest triumph with Germany in 2014. By that time, the ex-player of Hannover 96 and Werder Bremen had established himself at Arsenal, where he went on to play until 2018. Because of injuries and lack of form, Per did not feature much in two recent seasons, so his decision to finish his career seemed logical. However, he got used to living in London, and when Arsenal offered him a job as a club academy manager, Mertesacker happily accepted it, so now he will pass on his rich experience to younger generations.

Miroslav Klose

In 2014, he was the oldest member of the German team at 36 - so no wonder that Klose finished his international career right after the World Cup in Brazil. With 137 caps and 71 goals for “Die Mannschaft”, Miroslav belongs to the list of the best all-time German players. His club career was also long: after multiple years at Kaiserslautern, Werder Bremen and Bayern, he finished it at Italy’s Lazio in 2016. Shortly after that, he returned to the national team as one of Joachim Loew’s assistants. This year, Klose returned to Bayern, where he will coach the U-17 team.

Roman Weidenfeller

The goalkeeper played just five times for Germany, but did it at the right time - between 2013 and 2015. At the World Cup in Brazil, he was a back-up to Manuel Neuer and did not feature in any game, still he won a gold medal. And at the club level, Weidenfeller played 349 matches for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga during 16 years, between 2002 and 2018. After 2015, his role was reduced as the namesake Roman Buerki became the first-choice goalie, still Weidenfeller’s contract was renewed every year. But after the last season, the 38-year-old finally called it a day. His farewell match will take place on 7 September, and he is supposed to take some position at Borussia.