Schweinsteiger burst into tears as he was honored before kickoff and was cheered nearly every time he touched the ball. Leaving the match in the 67th minute, Schweinsteiger received another standing ovation. Minutes earlier, a fan managed to run onto the pitch unchallenged and took a selfie with the smiling Schweinsteiger before running off. 

Schalke’s Max Meyer and Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil scored Germany’s second-half goals, but the night belonged to Schweinsteiger, who played the first 66 minutes in Moenchengladbach on his 121st — and final — international appearance.

“I think you all saw how it effected me. I had just wanted to enjoy every moment, but I hadn’t expected it to be so lovely,” admitted Schweinsteiger who was carried off after the final whistle by his team mates.

Twelve years since his debut, the 32-year-old announced his retirement at the start of August, but head coach Joachim Loew gave the Manchester United midfielder the chance to skipper his country one last time.

Even before kick-off, with German FA (DFB) president Reinhard Grindel heaping praise on the departing captain during a pre-match presentation, Schweinsteiger struggled to hold back the tears.

He gave up, sobbing openly when the 30,121-strong crowd, which just over half-filled Borussia Park stadium, gave him a standing ovation.

“I didn’t think that would happen,” Schweinsteiger admitted, referring to his tears, when handed a microphone.

“Thank you for coming, it means a lot to me. It was a huge honour for me to play for Germany and I just want to say ‘thank you’ for everything. I was very touched, I was enjoying every second.”

This was Schweinsteiger’s first match of the season, having been banished to United’s reserves by new coach Jose Mourinho earlier this month, but he has insisted he will not give up on his ‘dream’ to play for the Red Devils.

The game was briefly halted with an hour gone when a fan, wearing a Germany shirt with ‘Schweinsteiger’ across the shoulders, ran onto the pitch, took a selfie with the World Cup winner and casually jogged off.

There was another standing ovation, but no tears this time, when Schweinsteiger came off for Julian Weigl on 66 minutes and embraced Loew on the sidelines.

He hugged each member of Germany’s bench, including Manuel Neuer, who is tipped to replace him as captain with Loew set to announce his new skipper on Thursday.