Bastian Schweinsteiger retires: Germany’s World Cup win at Maracana remains his greatest feat

Berlin: Having announced his international retirement on Friday, Germany’s midfield general Bastian Schweinsteiger walks away from die Mannschaft two years after his crowning moment in helping win the 2014 World Cup. Bloodied, but unbowed, Schweinsteiger was magnificent at Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Maracana stadium in the final, ensuring Germany controlled the midfield before Mario Goetze’s extra-time winning goal. After 12 years and 24 goals in 120 international appearances, ‘Schweini’ leaves having been a key factor in Germany reaching at least the semi-final stage of the last six major tournaments. [caption id=“attachment_2923216” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Germany’s Bastian Schweinsteiger after winning the 2014 World Cup final against Argentina at Maracana Statdium. AP[/caption] The last two injury-hit years have been unkind to the 31-year-old, who opted to quit Bayern Munich, the club he joined as a teenager in 1998, for a high-profile switch to Manchester United in 2015. A knee injury in January was aggravated while on Germany duty in March, restricting him to a handful of games, before coming off the bench in their opening Euro 2016 group game to score with his third touch of the ball in a 2-0 win over Ukraine. The March injury to the medial ligament in his right knee meant he played in only five of Germany’s six Euro 2016 games — sitting out the goalless draw against Poland — and started only the semi-final defeat to France. On his return to Old Trafford, after marrying tennis star Ana Ivanovic, new United boss Jose Mourinho has reportedly told the Germany star he is free to find a new club with two years left on his contract. With his club future open, now is the right time for Schweinsteiger to quit international football with Germany to play their opening 2018 World Cup qualifier in September. Debut at 19  As a 19-year-old, he made his senior international debut in 2004. Plucked from the Under-21 team, he played at Euro 2004 where Germany crashed out in the group phases — the only time Schweinsteiger went home before the knock-out stage of either a World Cup or European Championships. Schweinsteiger scored the first of his 24 goals in a friendly win over Russia in 2005. By the age of 22, he had already made more than 40 appearances for Germany. He cemented his defensive midfield place as the hosts finished third at the 2006 World Cup. His red card in the group stages of Euro 2008 saw him serve his suspension watching the next game alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who ticked him off for being sent off for reacting to a challenge in the shock 2-1 defeat to Croatia. Germany reached the Euro 2008 final with Schweinsteiger scoring a superb goal in their 3-2 quarter-final win over Portugal. By the 2010 World Cup, Schweinsteiger was in charge of Germany’s midfield general when Michael Ballack was ruled out by injury. With Philipp Lahm captaining at right-back, Schweinsteiger led in the middle. But question marks rose over his leadership skills when Germany exited the semi-finals of Euro 2012 after a 2-1 defeat to Italy. The Champions League title followed in 2013 as his Bayern team became the first German club to win the treble of European, Bundesliga and German Cup titles under Jupp Heynckes. Victory in the Wembley final meant Schweinsteiger won every club title on offer as Bayern went onto win the Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup trophies in the second half of 2013 in Pep Guardiola’s first year in charge. Schweinsteiger silenced his critics with a commanding display in Brazil - the 2014 World Cup was his finest hour for Germany. An ankle injury saw him sit out the opening 4-0 drubbing of Portugal, but he featured in the 2-2 draw with Ghana and 1-0 win over the USA. Solid displays in the last 16 and quarter-final wins saw him come into his own in the 7-1 rout of hosts Brazil in the semi-final as the Selecao’s defence shipped five goals in the opening 30 minutes. But it was the final where Schweinsteiger came into his own, standing up to repeated poundings, to keep Argentina at bay.