Mario Götze’s World Cup nomination was not only a source of great joy for many fans, but also for DFB colleague Ilkay Gündogan. The Manchester City captain spoke at length about the upcoming tournament and his future with the Citizens in an interview.
“I was extremely happy!” Gündogan commented on the Götze nomination in the Sunday picture. “In my career, no player has impressed me as much on the pitch as Mario did at BVB when he was 18 – to see his talent was AMAZING. He controlled the most difficult balls under pressure, always found the right teammate and played the perfect pass.”
Gündogan continues: “Mario wasn’t in the spotlight for a few years due to injuries – I’m all the more happy for him that this talent is so visible again in Frankfurt. He deserves it!”
Irrespective of his ex-colleague’s appointment to the squad, Gündogan travels to Qatar with high standards. “I don’t see any nation miles ahead of us,” he said. “There are teams that may be better individually in certain positions, but in the end it was the nation that worked as a team that won the title. We can definitely expect to play a very good tournament.”
He himself wants to play a leading role in this. “If I didn’t play in the first game I would be a bit disappointed,” admitted the 32-year-old. At the same time, Gündogan left no doubt about his close relationship with Hansi Flick. Flick is primarily responsible for the fact that he decided against retiring from the national team after the 2021 European Championship.
“With Hansi, I immediately felt the appreciation in the first conversation. I always have the feeling that there is someone who knows what makes me tick, who explains things to me and deals with me – this characteristic of Hansi is second to none.” , he praised the national coach. “I have rarely experienced a coach who is so good in 1:1 discussions and also in communication within the team.”
This is probably one of the reasons why Gündogan can imagine continuing to play for the DFB after the World Cup: “Basically, the home European Championship in 2024 is not far away and if I continue to deserve to be there at the level and if I’m needed sportingly, I can I can definitely imagine that. That certainly also depends on our success at the World Cup and how the coach plans afterwards.”
In addition, the native of Gelsenkirchen gave an insight into his future plans at Manchester City. When asked about his expiring contract, Gündogan was surprisingly open: “I feel extremely comfortable, have been the captain of this team since the summer and therefore have even more responsibility than before. Of course I can imagine staying here longer.”
Coach Pep Guardiola, with whom Gündogan even lives in the same house, plays an important role in his planning: “The question of coaching plays a major role. For me, the most important thing in all decisions was to know who the coach is and how he sees me. That is much more important to me than financial issues.”
This article was originally published on 90min.de as Ilkay Gündogan raves about World Cup driver Mario Götze.
