"[3] A versatile and complete player, Matthäus is regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, and was renowned for his perceptive passing, positional sense and well-timed tackling, as well as his powerful shooting.

[10] Matthäus and Bayern teammate Andreas Brehme signed with Inter Milan of Serie A in 1988, winning the Scudetto in 1988–89 during their first season, and the Italian Supercup that year as well.

Matthäus continued to enjoy further success with Inter, winning the UEFA Cup in 1991 and being named FIFA World Player of the Year.

The team had already secured the league title, and the appearance allowed Matthäus to satisfy his ambition retiring with the club where his career started: "It was always my dream to play my last competitive game here.

[17] In the final at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, despite his considerable play-making ability, he was assigned by coach Franz Beckenbauer to mark Argentina's Diego Maradona.

[21] West Germany reached its third consecutive final, a rematch against Maradona-led Argentina, and this time Matthäus and his team emerged victorious 1–0 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome thanks to Andreas Brehme converting an 85th minute penalty.

[23] Matthäus did not participate in the UEFA Euro 1992 in Sweden due to an injury, where a reunified Germany made the final but surprisingly lost 2–0 to Denmark.

In 2015, Homare Sawa and Formiga became the first footballers to appear for a record sixth time at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada.

[31] He had a poor performance in the first group game against Romania, causing Oliver Bierhoff and other key German players to demand his benching, but head coach Erich Ribbeck stuck by Matthäus.

In a lengthy November 2009 Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung interview, Matthäus complained about what he considers to be inadequate treatment he receives in Germany as a former great.

[37] In December 2002, looking to replace their recently sacked head coach Ljubiša Tumbaković, Serbian club FK Partizan hired Matthäus during mid-season winter break, signing the German to an 18-month contract.

The German's finest hour with the club, however, came in August 2003 when Partizan eliminated Newcastle United in the Champions League third qualifying round to reach the 2003–04 competition's group stage.

[39] Following the first leg 0–1 loss at home, the cause seemed lost, however, Partizan improbably triumphed 0–1 away at St. James' Park against the third-placed English Premier League club, taking the tie to penalties.

Drawn in a tough group with Real Madrid, eventual champions FC Porto, and Olympique de Marseille, Partizan finished last thus missing out on the UEFA Cup spot.

On 13 December 2003, right after finishing the final league match of the first half of the season before the winter break (0–1 win away at FK Železnik), Matthäus abruptly resigned his Partizan post by addressing the players and club leadership in private.

It began with Matthäus, by now Hungarian national team head coach, giving a detailed interview to Serbian press and accusing Partizan club leadership of breaching the additional terms of his contract.

[42] It became known on that occasion that his initial contract with Partizan that had been finalized on 1 January 2003 included a base guaranteed part as well additional premium clauses giving him between 5–10% from players' transfers and shirt sponsorships as well as Champions League bonus incentives.

Matthäus claimed that after none of that was honoured he gave up on asking for his percentages of the Danko Lazović and Zvonimir Vukić transfers as well as Superfund shirt sponsorship deal due to "not wanting to upset the team atmosphere during Champions League qualifying", but instead pushed for the additional terms to be renegotiated.

After successful Champions League qualification, the additional terms were in fact renegotiated with Partizan's general secretary Žarko Zečević so that both parties agreed to put the previous additional terms out of effect and instead now give Matthäus 15% of Igor Duljaj's (the club's best young asset at the time) future transfer abroad as well as to allow Matthäus to leave the club any time he wanted without penalties.

Before the winter break, Hungary managed to beat the minnows of the group Malta thus finishing the autumn part of the qualifying in fourth place with six points, mathematically still within striking distance of the leading trio.

As the qualifiers resumed in late March 2005, Hungary hosted Bulgaria in what was pretty much a must win match for Matthäus' squad, however they only managed a draw right at the end with the goal coming in 90th minute for a 1–1 final scoreline.

As Croatia and Sweden both won on the same occasion, the leading duo of teams now tangibly separated themselves from the pack of chasers, all of which meant that in order to qualify Hungary would have to win all its remaining fixtures and even get some outside help in terms of favourable results elsewhere.

[46] However, after only seven matches in charge (five wins, two draws) from the start of the 2006 Paraná state championship he quit the club in March 2006 citing the need to be closer to his family.

Despite co-leading the team to the Austrian league title by a large margin, Matthäus would eventually be fired on 12 June 2007 by unanimous decision of the Red Bull Salzburg's board of directors.

[65][66] Journalist Jacques Thibert, writing for France Football, who awarded Matthäus the 1990 Ballon d'Or, described him as a player that despite not being sublime in anything individually, was good in every aspect of the game, which allowed him to be at ease in every area of the pitch.

[66][68][69][70][71] Well into his 30's and coupled with injuries led to then Germany national team manager Berti Vogts's decision to convert Matthäus into a sweeper, a position that he would later play at his final five years in Bayern.

[65] Aside from his passing and long range shooting abilities, Matthäus was also an expert free kick and penalty taker, known for his powerful strikes from set pieces.

[73][74][75][76] In addition to his footballing skills, Matthäus was also praised for his winning mentality, determination, leadership, and commanding presence on the pitch, which made him a decisive player for his teams.

Their divorce became official in late January 2009 following the conclusion of a year-long court case in Salzburg, Austria (their last residence) over the division of assets.

[85] Matthäus had a guest role together with Joanna Tuczyńska in the television series Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei, in which he played himself in March 2012.