World Cup hero in gigantic form
Magic idol enchants the league – and Flick?
10/29/2022, 12:10 p.m
The subject of the World Cup in Qatar still seems taboo for Mario Götze. The focus is on the in-form playmaker like it hasn’t been for a long time. He can now do more advertising for himself in an emotional duel with his old love Borussia Dortmund.
Nothing fazes Mario Götze at the moment. He shakes off stubborn opponents with the ease of the best days, the World Cup hero smiles coolly away at heated discussions about a desert ticket – and even the emotional date with his ex doesn’t bring any beads of sweat to his forehead. “See old faces again and play a bit of football” is his simple motto for the Bundesliga top game with Borussia Dortmund.
Two years after the painful and inevitable separation, Götze found his smile again at Eintracht Frankfurt and finally shook off the low of his second BVB era. He goes “with anticipation” into the important chasing duel on Saturday (6.30 p.m./Sky and in the ntv.de live ticker), emphasized the 30-year-old: “I spent my youth in Dortmund and had a lot of good moments. I look back fondly on it.” All in all, it was “a gigantic time”.
He is currently performing gigantic with Eintracht, which is even one point ahead of Dortmund in fourth place. The filigree technician is “in the best shape of his life,” enthused captain Sebastian Rode recently. Götze shines as a thinker and leader, makes his teammates look better with brilliant ideas and is a dangerous goal himself. He has not regretted the move from Eindhoven to Main. “I feel super happy. I’m fit, I’m happy here. It’s a great challenge to play all three competitions. All in all – the package is right.” In addition to his playful class, the creative spirit regularly achieves best running results every three days. In a 3-4-2-1 system, he appears in the offensive half-position with great game intelligence and so much technical finesse that many protagonists say: Such an element could also help Flick and Germany at the World Cup.
“He’s all over the place”
The debate about a squad place for the Rio hero for Qatar has been raging for a long time, only on Wednesday Hansi Flick convinced himself of his abilities live on site in the 2-1 win against Olympique Marseille. Flick, who knows Götze from his days as assistant coach to Joachim Löw, must have been impressed by how easily Götze and striker Randal Kolo Muani combined the winning goal in the Champions League. “It’s just magical how Mario plays. He’s everywhere on the pitch,” said Kolo Muani about Götze, who was voted “Man of the Match” on Wednesday. Together with the Dane Jesper Lindström and Germany’s World Cup group opponent Daichi Kamada from Japan, they are currently forming what is probably the fastest offensive in the Bundesliga.
Record national player Lothar Matthäus recently said: “I could imagine that he has a huge chance of making the squad. He has outstanding skills and has shown again that he belongs to the national team.” That’s not an issue for him, says Götze: “I’m concentrating on my games and topics. That’s the most important thing.” According to a report in the “Bild” newspaper, he has a place in the provisional squad of 55, for the final nomination against Dortmund another application should be made.
Flick can be sure that the grounded idol would not make a big fuss even as a supplementary player in the World Cup squad. After such a long time and in view of the tough competition for young stars Jamal Musiala, Thomas Müller, Leroy Sané and Serge Gnabry, Flick Götze could not guarantee a regular place with certainty. According to another “Bild” report, Götze is said to have refused a return to the national team in September, for which he has not played since 2017.
Götze is on the highway to the World Cup
Against the club where his star rose as a teenager. Where the 63-time national player also experienced his hardest years after returning from Munich with illnesses, injuries and a place in the bank from 2016 to 2020. “I’m pleased that Mario has reached his level again. He’s in really good shape, very sure of the ball,” enthused BVB coach Edin Terzić. Götze is on the highway to the World Cup: Eindhoven, Frankfurt, Doha. The playmaker, who was once considered a miracle talent, would not have expected that the move to the Bundesliga could fuel his career so quickly.
Götze is “capable of playing the deadly pass or scoring the goal himself. But we don’t just have to stop him, we have to stop the entire offensive.” After all, it is important “to make up a few points in the Bundesliga. We’d best start with that on Saturday,” emphasized Terzić. But his counterpart at Frankfurt has something against it for very personal reasons. “It’s my fourth season in Germany and I haven’t scored a point against BVB – the only team in the league,” said coach Oliver Glasner. Thanks to Götze, that should now change.