• Made his international debut after just half a season of Bundesliga football with Stuttgart, where he spent the 2003/04 campaign on loan from home-town club Bayern.

• Scored the spectacular first goal of the 2006 FIFA World Cup − against Costa Rica on his home ground − and was the only Germany player to appear for the maximum 690 minutes.

• Won a second domestic double with Bayern in 2007/08 albeit, like the first one in 2005/06, it was truncated by injury; used predominantly at right-back under Louis van Gaal in 2009/10.

• One of Germany's few successes at UEFA EURO 2004, Lahm started all three matches in Portugal and was included in the Team of the Tournament at UEFA EURO 2008, where he scored a late winner in the semi-final against Turkey.

• Helped Bayern to the 2010 UEFA Champions League final, which they lost 2-0 to FC Internazionale Milano in Madrid, but did celebrate another domestic double. Played a major role in Germany's success at the 2010 World Cup, where they were eventually knocked out by eventual winners Spain in the semi-finals; included in the tournament's All-Star Team.

• On the losing side for the second time in a UEFA Champions League final when Bayern were defeated on penalties by Chelsea FC in the 2012 showpiece, the match coming a week after his team lost 5-2 to Borussia Dortmund in the German Cup decider.

• Reached the final of Europe's premier club competition again in 2013, appearing in 11 of the 12 fixtures leading up to Wembley, and added another Bundesliga title winners' medal to his collection.

UEFA honours
UEFA European Championship: runner-up 2008
UEFA EURO 2008: Team of the Tournament
UEFA Champions League: runner-up 2010, 2012
UEFA European Under-19 Championship: runner-up 2002
UEFA.com users' Team of the Year: 2006, 2008, 2012