World cup winning German captain Phillipp Lahm has retired from international football. The 30 year old Bayern Munich defender who has also featured at midfield has won a Champions league and 5 Bundesliga titles. It’s probably clutching at straws to suggest it’s good news for Ireland ahead of our meeting with the Germans ahead of our Euro 2016 qualifier meets. The former VFB Stuttgart player made 113 appearances for his country but the 2014 World cup was his first major honour although he was part of the team that was beaten by Spain in the Euro 2008 final