A decade after his goal in Maracaná against Argentina that won Germany the title in the World Cup in Brazil, Mario Götze With the Eintracht Frankfurt jersey he once again resembles the angelic-faced area gunman who gave the ‘Mannschaft’ its fourth star in 2014.
Götze knows the taste of the honeys of football, tasted in the 113th minute of that final against Argentina in the emblematic stadium in Rio, but he has also experienced deep disappointments and dips in his game. At a time described by the German media as the country’s weapon to counter Leo Messi, Götze was unable to live up to the fabulous expectations generated around him.
After a transfer without a happy ending to Bayern Munich and a disappointing return to Borussia DortmundGötze tried to right his career in the PSV Eindhoven Dutch, before returning to Germany at the hands of the Eintracht in 2022. At 32 years old, he faces the final phase of his career with an exciting challenge. The Frankfurt team is second in the Bundesliga and Götze could win the German championship with a third different team.
A product of the Borussia Dortmund youth academy, Götze soon stood out in the youth ranks of the German national team. Golden Boy Award Winner In 2011, he won two Bundesliga titles under Jürgen Klopp at the Ruhr team before closing his move to Bayern just a few days before both clubs faced each other in the 2013 Champions League final. A decision that brought furious criticism from Dortmund fans. Klopp himself would go so far as to say that it was “a giant blow for which he was not prepared.”
He entered football history with his goal in Brazil, but the protagonist would later acknowledge that that “set the bar very high.” Upon his return to Germany he met the disappointments of substitution at Bayern under the orders of Pep Guardiola. In 2024, the footballer wrote a retrospective letter to his ‘self’ from years ago in the book ‘Voices of Eintracht Frankfurt’, recalls AFP. In it he recommends the young Götze – who also had an offer from Barcelona – to stay in Dortmund: «I know you won’t think much about this when I tell you: but stay in Dortmund a little longer. “It will be good for you and your development.”
After his return home to Dormund in 2016, the talented attacking midfielder spent months out due to a metabolic disordercoupled with the feeling that he was disappointing the fans. “If only I had lowered my own expectations, allowed myself a break and accepted a phase of weakness from time to time,” Götze told the ‘Spiegel’. «If I could make an image of what my career should be like, I would have scored that goal at the age of 35 in my last tournament, and then said ‘That’s it, I’m retiring.’
In the Europa League, a competition they won in 2022, ‘Die Adler’ (The Eagles) are third only behind Lazio and Athletic Club de Bilbao in the single group of 36 teams. Eintracht hosts Augsburg this Saturday on the 13th round of the German championship, before visiting French side Lyon in the second European continental competition. Mere qualification for the Champions League would already be a reward for a club that has only played in it once and has not finished in the top four in the league since 1993.
Götze retains that instinct to score decisive goals. He already demonstrated it again this season, for example in the 1-0 victory against Werder Bremen. With young teammates in attack like Omar Marmoush and Hugo Ekitike, after that victory against Bremen Götze confessed: “I feel like a grandfather here.”
«We have many young players. Good players, a lot of quality. There is a lot of fun here. And so it should always be; football and fun.
#rebirth #Götze #gunman #decisive #goals #metabolic #imbalance #betrayal #Champions #League #final
