Mario Gotze laughs. He casually lifts his silver suitcase and disappears into the group of national players in the team hotel on the beach in Muscat. It’s like he’s never been away. As if there weren’t a five-year international break. No career detour via Eindhoven, close to Germany, and yet far away from the national team and the big football hype. Mario Götze is back – at 30. And he is facing one of the biggest comebacks in German World Cup history.
Will Götze already play against Oman, exactly five years and two days after the 2-2 win against France in Cologne under Joachim Löw? Hansi Flick was not lured in the personnel. “I think everyone is excited,” said the national coach. The Frankfurter was released from final training only two days earlier because of his last Bundesliga appearance.
“The Reward for Hard Work”
When the Qatar squad said goodbye at Frankfurt Airport, the 30-year-old stood right next to Hansi Flick and smiled. In the last World Cup test, the national coach should give the new Frankfurters the first minutes of an international match against Oman in the Sultan Kabus Stadium since the joker role under Joachim Löw in the 2-2 win against France exactly five years and two days ago in Cologne.
“I think the nomination is the reward for the hard work I’ve put in, but it wouldn’t have been possible without my wife, my family, my great teammates and coaches,” Götze wrote on Twitter after being included in the World Cup squad .
Everything once seemed easy for Götze in football. Until the historic 113th minute in the 2014 World Cup final against Argentina. “Do it. Do it! It does it! Mario Götzeeee! That’s crazy!” ARD commentator Tom Bartels shouted into the microphone. Götze put it in, the ball. Germany was world champion and at the age of 22 “Super-Mario” looked up at the night sky of Rio de Janeiro with inspiration and a bit in disbelief.
Nothing better could come of it now. There were many things that were worse. Things didn’t go well for Bayern. The return to Dortmund brought no blessing. The body went on strike, the soul had to endure a lot. Life can be complicated as a winning goal hero.
Flick just had to nominate him
Only the sporting step backwards in 2020 to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands, where others end their careers, was like an ingenious pass into the open lane. Flick had kept in touch anyway, also as a Bayern coach. Away from the relentless burning glass of the German public, football fun returned, much to the delight of Eintracht Frankfurt, Götze’s next fitting career move this summer.
Götze currently stands for the Hessian success story in the Bundesliga and Champions League. His brilliant assist against Mainz 05 last Sunday was the final proof that Flick simply had to nominate him for the World Cup in Qatar. “In this condition, he can really only help every team,” said his club coach Oliver Glasner.
A brilliant footballer
Eintracht sports director Markus Krösche sees Götze as “by far” the best attacking midfielder in the Bundesliga. Record national player Lothar Matthäus made his personal football kowtow to Götze as an omnipresent TV expert on RTL. “I’m happy for Mario because many people wrote him off, including me,” said the 1990 world champion. “I think he’ll be able to play a big role in the World Cup,” said Krösche. Flick agrees. “We all know that Mario is a brilliant footballer who has flashes of inspiration that he makes intuitively,” said the national coach.
Both of them had several conversations before the return campaign. It was clear that Götze could not come back as a supplementary player with his CV. Both sides also had to weigh up the fuss that his appointment would cause. “I can only say that Mario is really happy that he’s there. And we’re looking forward to him,” said Flick.
Götze’s merits are impressive. Despite five years without a DFB appearance, he is number four in the DFB ensemble for Qatar with 67 international matches so far behind Thomas Müller (118), Manuel Neuer (113) and Joshua Kimmich (70). Only Müller (44) and Serge Gnabry (20) scored more goals than Götze with 17 DFB goals. It’s hard to imagine what the values would be like without the long interruption.
Götze can create something historic again in Doha. Paul Breitner was the only German international to score two goals in two different World Cup finals in 1974 in a 2-1 triumph against the Netherlands and eight years later in a 3-1 defeat against Italy. By the way, the finale on December 18th in the Lusail Stadium will again be commented on by Tom Bartels. The German fans would certainly like to hear him shout again: “Do it. Do it. It does it. Mario Götzeeee! That’s crazy!”
