fyou can rise up. The man in question was a step further, but still within earshot. “Mr. Götze, do you want to say something?” asked one of the reporters when Mario Götze was about to leave the stadium in al-Khor late on Sunday evening. Götze turned to him briefly, a smile somewhere between friendly and apologetic, a look that said: no. But by then he was almost gone anyway. Four days earlier, different stadium, same situation, Götze had already said something. However, only two words: “Not today.”
The Germans have been in Qatar for two weeks now, and Götze hasn’t spoken since then, not in public. Fourteen days, that translates into eight press conferences (minus the one where Hansi Flick didn’t want to strain his players) and two mixed zones after the games. On the other hand, the German Football Association and its advisors could tell you a lot about how great the desire is to learn something from the world champion and final hero of 2014. The appointment of the now thirty-year-old to Hansi Flick’s squad for Qatar was no longer a big surprise, but it was definitely a big story before leaving for the Gulf. And if Niclas Füllkrug hadn’t scored the goal to make it 1-1 against Spain, the questions about Götze might have been a little louder now.