Lothar Matthaus: reports of his demise exaggerated

A stamp on a court letter that labelled Lothar Matthäus as “deceased” after authorities failed to contact him, has not gone down well with the former Germany captain.

Matthäus, who played a record 150 times for his country and won the World Cup in 1990, has been living in Hungary in recent years.

He was due to be sent Munich court papers regarding alimony to his former wife, but authorities could not contact the World Cup winner, currently registered in Hungary, so the letter was stamped with the word “deceased”. Matthaeus could not be found at the address they had for him, so the letter was marked with the words “tot,”  the German for “deceased.”

If there is one person in Germany who is unlikely to see the funny side of his death being erroneously reported, it would be  Matthäus.

“It is an unbelievable cheek,” Matthäus told the Bild newspaper.

“You can find me anywhere. Everyone can see I’m still alive – on the television on the football field, anywhere. If someone wants to send me something it is very easy. I moved to Budapest nine years ago.”

He may not have seen the funny side of the mix-up, but it’s safe to assume that the German public did.