Mario Götze: 10 things He's German football's golden boy, but how much do you really know about the man compared to Messi? vor 2 Stunden

Published on: 19 June 2018

"And Mario Götze has won it for Germany!" – The words uttered on 13 July 2014 that meant a fourth FIFA World Cup title for Germany and a place in history for Götze. Still only 26, the twinkle-toed attacking midfielder has already played for Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, yet the road to glory has never been straightforward.

bundesliga.com presents 10 things you may not have known about the German playmaker who has suffered plenty of highs and lows.

1) Not the only talent in the family

The middle of three brothers, Mario may be the most famous of the Götze fraternity, but they have all forged careers in football. Both Fabian and Felix are defenders – no doubt a result of young Mario needing people to practise against – and products of the Dortmund youth academy.

Older brother Fabian spent most of his career in the reserves at Dortmund, Mainz and Bochum before retiring after a spell with Unterhaching. The younger Felix joined Bayern as a 16-year-old, featuring frequently for the reserves and also appearing on the bench in a number of first-team matches. He then joined Augsburg on a four-year deal in summer 2018.

Happy Birthday little Brother @felixgoetze4 ❤️ time where I can drag you around is definelty over ????

A post shared by MARIO GÖTZE (@mariogotze) on Feb 11, 2018 at 12:16pm PST

2) Houston, we have lift-off

Born in the Bavarian city of Memmingen, around 70 miles west of Munich, Mario and his family have moved around often. At the age of three, the Götze clan headed to Texas after Mario's father, Jürgen, an academic, received a research grant from the University of Houston. The family returned to Memmingen after 18 months before a move north to Dortmund, where Jürgen was appointed a professor at the Technical University. That was where, as a six-year-old, Mario joined the youth teams at Eintracht Hombruch before being picked up by BVB at the age of nine.

3) Mixing it with the big boys

While it isn't necessarily rare to see brothers playing alongside each other professionally, it is at youth level when the brothers are two years apart. But that is exactly what happened in Dortmund, where Mario almost exclusively played in a higher age group.

At just 16 he was the youngest player to feature in the finals of the 2008/09 U19 DFB Cup and Bundesliga, with his older brother as captain. Mario provided 11 goals and seven assists in just 18 matches that campaign, including scoring in the league final defeat to a Mainz side coached by Thomas Tuchel and led by Andre Schürrle – the man who would five years later set him up in the final of the World Cup.

Watch: Schürrle Götze and Reus are Dortmund BFFs to this day

4) Crossing the divide

In 2013, Götze made global headlines for the first time in his career. For three years he had been a key member of Jürgen Klopp's barnstorming Dortmund side that won back-to-back Bundesliga titles and reached the final of the UEFA Champions League. Just weeks before that final, however, the Borussia world came crashing down as it was announced Götze would be joining their arch-rivals Bayern.

He became just the third player in history to make the move and faced heavy criticism from the BVB faithful. However, his time at Bayern failed to live up to the hype. Götze never saw eye to eye with Pep Guardiola, and struggled to recreate the form he had shown at Dortmund; by the time Carlo Ancelotti took over, Götze was deemed surplus to requirements and made a sensational return to Borussia.

Götze scored the opening goal in a 3-0 win on his first return to Dortmund in Bayern Munich colours in November 2013. © gettyimages / Adam Pretty 5) Once-in-a-century talent

Lavish praise for Götze was once as regular as German trains. Former coach Klopp described him as "the best talent I've ever seen". Matthias Sammer, the Bayern sporting director who brought Götze to the club, labelled him "one of the best talents we've [Germany] ever had", while Felix Magath once called the attacker "a once-in-a-century talent".

Götze is wrapped up in one of those famous Klopp hugs en route to the UEFA Champions League final in 2013. © imago / MIS 6) "Better than Messi"

Such hype is a lot to take for a young player, but Götze justified the praise in the 113th minute of the 2014 World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro. Taking down a ball into the box by former youth rival Schürrle, he volleyed past Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero to etch his name forever into Germany's history books by securing the country's fourth World Cup title, the first as a unified nation.

After that goal, Germany boss Joachim Löw revealed that he had given Götze special instructions in extra-time: "Go and show the world you're better than Messi and can decide the World Cup." And that's just what he did. As Messi and Argentina faded late in the game, the youngster Löw described as "a miracle boy, a boy wonder, a player always able to decide a match" shone on football’s grandest stage.

"Show the world that you're better than Messi" - what Löw was telling Götze at this exact moment in Rio. © gettyimages / Christophe Simon 7) The world's most expensive boot

Even with Messi on the pitch in Rio, it was Götze with the world’s most celebrated left foot that day. And six months later, he put it to use once more to raise money for charity. Götze offered his left boot from that game to the person who gave the biggest donation to the children’s charity "Ein Herz für Kinder", with the winning amount standing at €2 million. The anonymous benefactor then stated his desire for the boot to be displayed at the German Football Museum in Dortmund, where it can still be viewed today.

Götze's €2 million boots on display at the German Football Museum in Dortmund. © gettyimages / Patrik Stollarz 8) Metabolic disturbance

Götze may have been on top of the world in 2014, but unfortunately for him it meant he had further to fall. A string of injuries prevented him from ever reaching his full potential at Bayern and after muscle problems continued to blight him after his return to Dortmund, the club decided in 2017 that he should undergo a thorough examination to get to the root of the cause.

The result was an announcement that Götze had "metabolic disturbances" and had to withdraw from training immediately. It was an issue that caused continual muscle problems and meant the midfielder missed 18 games in the second half of the 2016/17 season as he set about recovering. His physio Dr. Thierry Murrisch explained that Götze used to exercise further at home after training with Bayern, giving his body no time to recover.

Götze himself admitted: "I demanded too much of myself and my body. I always wanted to do more than the others when I should've allowed my body time to recover and grow." Murrisch explained that Götze had the muscle structure of a body builder, but his muscles stopped responding after they were overworked.

Hello everyone, due to a metabolic disorder, I was unable to play football lately. During the last few months I have gone through a successful treatment and I am back on track now. Tomorrow I will start with the 3rd stage of my recovery program. This means I will complete the performance test and begin training with the team soon. I am more than excited to be back in the stadium and on the training ground again. A few important things for you to know: First, I am very proud of my BVB teammates and I am so happy they took home the DFB Cup. The pictures of all of you, the fans, celebrating in the city reminded me of my first victories with the club. Second, I would like to congratulate my teammates of the German national team for winning the Confed Cup as well as the German U21 for their victory at the European Championships. I am extremely proud to be a member of the team and of the DFB. I would also like to wish my younger brother success on the U19 national team. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you!! Last but not least, I would like to give a big thanks to all of my fans. You all have supported me so much during the last few months. Your messages and get-well wishes were motivating and greatly appreciated. Thank you Aki Watzke and Michael Zorc for your trust in me during this difficult time of recovery.It helped a lot. Thanks to my team, my doctors, and my fitness coach, and all the other people who stuck by me. For all of the patience, support, and positive energy, thank you to my family and my fiancée @annkathrin_vida I have much to be thankful for. See you on the pitch! Best wishes, Mario

A post shared by MARIO GÖTZE (@mariogotze) on Jul 6, 2017 at 5:03am PDT

9) Klopp silenced

Götze's move to Bayern almost broke the then-Dortmund coach, Klopp. Just days after BVB had dramatically beaten Malaga to reach the Champions League semi-final, Klopp was called into the office of BVB sporting director Michael Zorc. As Klopp explained in a documentary on Götze, "He told me Mario was leaving for Bayern. I just turned around, went home and lay on my bed.

"We were meant to be going out that night, my wife was all ready and I told her there was no chance that night. I just lay in bed."

Klopp had been the coach to introduce Götze to the world. He knew him better than anyone in football, but could not believe he'd lost his prized asset. Few people have rendered the Liverpool manager speechless, but Klopp harbours no ill feelings, and even believes Götze is still as good as he was in his first spell at Borussia. "Mario is in no way a worse footballer now than when he was younger," he said recently.

Watch: Check out Götze's top three goals for Dortmund to see why Klopp is right!

10) Nadal nut

A sport fiend in general, Götze is a huge fan of tennis and can often be found at tournaments when time allows. He particularly admires the sport’s legend Rafael Nadal, and the pair even share a birthday - 3 June - although the Spaniard is six years Götze's senior.

Thank you @rolandgarros for the invite to see the legend @rafaelnadal . He won the French Open for the 11th time #frenchopen ????

A post shared by MARIO GÖTZE (@mariogotze) on Jun 10, 2018 at 9:25am PDT

Source: bundesliga.com

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Happy Birthday little Brother @felixgoetze4 ❤️ time where I can drag you around is definelty over ????

A post shared by MARIO GÖTZE (@mariogotze) on Feb 11, 2018 at 12:16pm PST

2) Houston, we have lift-off

Born in the Bavarian city of Memmingen, around 70 miles west of Munich, Mario and his family have moved around often. At the age of three, the Götze clan headed to Texas after Mario's father, Jürgen, an academic, received a research grant from the University of Houston. The family returned to Memmingen after 18 months before a move north to Dortmund, where Jürgen was appointed a professor at the Technical University. That was where, as a six-year-old, Mario joined the youth teams at Eintracht Hombruch before being picked up by BVB at the age of nine.

3) Mixing it with the big boys

While it isn't necessarily rare to see brothers playing alongside each other professionally, it is at youth level when the brothers are two years apart. But that is exactly what happened in Dortmund, where Mario almost exclusively played in a higher age group.

At just 16 he was the youngest player to feature in the finals of the 2008/09 U19 DFB Cup and Bundesliga, with his older brother as captain. Mario provided 11 goals and seven assists in just 18 matches that campaign, including scoring in the league final defeat to a Mainz side coached by Thomas Tuchel and led by Andre Schürrle – the man who would five years later set him up in the final of the World Cup.

Watch: Schürrle Götze and Reus are Dortmund BFFs to this day

4) Crossing the divide

In 2013, Götze made global headlines for the first time in his career. For three years he had been a key member of Jürgen Klopp's barnstorming Dortmund side that won back-to-back Bundesliga titles and reached the final of the UEFA Champions League. Just weeks before that final, however, the Borussia world came crashing down as it was announced Götze would be joining their arch-rivals Bayern.

He became just the third player in history to make the move and faced heavy criticism from the BVB faithful. However, his time at Bayern failed to live up to the hype. Götze never saw eye to eye with Pep Guardiola, and struggled to recreate the form he had shown at Dortmund; by the time Carlo Ancelotti took over, Götze was deemed surplus to requirements and made a sensational return to Borussia.

Götze scored the opening goal in a 3-0 win on his first return to Dortmund in Bayern Munich colours in November 2013. © gettyimages / Adam Pretty 5) Once-in-a-century talent

Lavish praise for Götze was once as regular as German trains. Former coach Klopp described him as "the best talent I've ever seen". Matthias Sammer, the Bayern sporting director who brought Götze to the club, labelled him "one of the best talents we've [Germany] ever had", while Felix Magath once called the attacker "a once-in-a-century talent".

Götze is wrapped up in one of those famous Klopp hugs en route to the UEFA Champions League final in 2013. © imago / MIS 6) "Better than Messi"

Such hype is a lot to take for a young player, but Götze justified the praise in the 113th minute of the 2014 World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro. Taking down a ball into the box by former youth rival Schürrle, he volleyed past Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero to etch his name forever into Germany's history books by securing the country's fourth World Cup title, the first as a unified nation.

After that goal, Germany boss Joachim Löw revealed that he had given Götze special instructions in extra-time: "Go and show the world you're better than Messi and can decide the World Cup." And that's just what he did. As Messi and Argentina faded late in the game, the youngster Löw described as "a miracle boy, a boy wonder, a player always able to decide a match" shone on football’s grandest stage.

"Show the world that you're better than Messi" - what Löw was telling Götze at this exact moment in Rio. © gettyimages / Christophe Simon 7) The world's most expensive boot

Even with Messi on the pitch in Rio, it was Götze with the world’s most celebrated left foot that day. And six months later, he put it to use once more to raise money for charity. Götze offered his left boot from that game to the person who gave the biggest donation to the children’s charity "Ein Herz für Kinder", with the winning amount standing at €2 million. The anonymous benefactor then stated his desire for the boot to be displayed at the German Football Museum in Dortmund, where it can still be viewed today.

Götze's €2 million boots on display at the German Football Museum in Dortmund. © gettyimages / Patrik Stollarz 8) Metabolic disturbance

Götze may have been on top of the world in 2014, but unfortunately for him it meant he had further to fall. A string of injuries prevented him from ever reaching his full potential at Bayern and after muscle problems continued to blight him after his return to Dortmund, the club decided in 2017 that he should undergo a thorough examination to get to the root of the cause.

The result was an announcement that Götze had "metabolic disturbances" and had to withdraw from training immediately. It was an issue that caused continual muscle problems and meant the midfielder missed 18 games in the second half of the 2016/17 season as he set about recovering. His physio Dr. Thierry Murrisch explained that Götze used to exercise further at home after training with Bayern, giving his body no time to recover.

Götze himself admitted: "I demanded too much of myself and my body. I always wanted to do more than the others when I should've allowed my body time to recover and grow." Murrisch explained that Götze had the muscle structure of a body builder, but his muscles stopped responding after they were overworked.

Hello everyone, due to a metabolic disorder, I was unable to play football lately. During the last few months I have gone through a successful treatment and I am back on track now. Tomorrow I will start with the 3rd stage of my recovery program. This means I will complete the performance test and begin training with the team soon. I am more than excited to be back in the stadium and on the training ground again. A few important things for you to know: First, I am very proud of my BVB teammates and I am so happy they took home the DFB Cup. The pictures of all of you, the fans, celebrating in the city reminded me of my first victories with the club. Second, I would like to congratulate my teammates of the German national team for winning the Confed Cup as well as the German U21 for their victory at the European Championships. I am extremely proud to be a member of the team and of the DFB. I would also like to wish my younger brother success on the U19 national team. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you!! Last but not least, I would like to give a big thanks to all of my fans. You all have supported me so much during the last few months. Your messages and get-well wishes were motivating and greatly appreciated. Thank you Aki Watzke and Michael Zorc for your trust in me during this difficult time of recovery.It helped a lot. Thanks to my team, my doctors, and my fitness coach, and all the other people who stuck by me. For all of the patience, support, and positive energy, thank you to my family and my fiancée @annkathrin_vida I have much to be thankful for. See you on the pitch! Best wishes, Mario

A post shared by MARIO GÖTZE (@mariogotze) on Jul 6, 2017 at 5:03am PDT

9) Klopp silenced

Götze's move to Bayern almost broke the then-Dortmund coach, Klopp. Just days after BVB had dramatically beaten Malaga to reach the Champions League semi-final, Klopp was called into the office of BVB sporting director Michael Zorc. As Klopp explained in a documentary on Götze, "He told me Mario was leaving for Bayern. I just turned around, went home and lay on my bed.

"We were meant to be going out that night, my wife was all ready and I told her there was no chance that night. I just lay in bed."

Klopp had been the coach to introduce Götze to the world. He knew him better than anyone in football, but could not believe he'd lost his prized asset. Few people have rendered the Liverpool manager speechless, but Klopp harbours no ill feelings, and even believes Götze is still as good as he was in his first spell at Borussia. "Mario is in no way a worse footballer now than when he was younger," he said recently.

Watch: Check out Götze's top three goals for Dortmund to see why Klopp is right!

10) Nadal nut

A sport fiend in general, Götze is a huge fan of tennis and can often be found at tournaments when time allows. He particularly admires the sport’s legend Rafael Nadal, and the pair even share a birthday - 3 June - although the Spaniard is six years Götze's senior.

Thank you @rolandgarros for the invite to see the legend @rafaelnadal . He won the French Open for the 11th time #frenchopen ????

A post shared by MARIO GÖTZE (@mariogotze) on Jun 10, 2018 at 9:25am PDT

Source: bundesliga.com

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