MARIO GOTZE has been called up to the Germany squad for the World Cup.
The Eintracht Frankfurt star has had a turbulent few years but is on the rise once again more than eight years after scoring the winner in the 2014 World Cup final.
Gotze’s strike gave Germany a 1-0 extra-time win over Argentina and the then-Bayern Munich star looked set for an illustrious career.
But he failed to replicate the form he showed for Borussia Dortmund at Bayern, scoring 36 goals in 114 games for the perennial German champions.
Gotze returned to Dortmund in 2016 but spent six months on the sidelines in his first year after suffering from myopathy, a disorder which affects the fibres in the muscles.
The condition made it difficult for Gotze to lose weight after he picked up injuries and he was nicknamed ‘chubby fairy’ by his Dortmund team-mates.
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His last Germany cap came the following year in 2017 as his health problems caused him to become a bit-part player at Dortmund.
But the 30-year-old has always had an abundance of talent with Marco Reus claiming Gotze is the best player he has ever played with – ahead of Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland.
Gotze rediscovered his form following a move to PSV Eindhoven in 2020, where he spent two years before joining Frankfurt for £2.5million in the summer.
He has been a regular starter for the German side and played in five Champions League games to help Frankfurt qualify for the knock-out stages.
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And now his form has been rewarded with a recall to the national team by Hansi Flick, with Gotze likely benefitting from Reus being ruled out through injury.
Gotze missed out on the 2018 World Cup but will have a chance to put things right in Qatar later this month.
The 63-cap star featured in six games in 2014 and came off the bench to score in the final.
He also went viral not long after the final after being photographed getting a little too excited alongside his stunning wife Ann-Kathrin Brommel.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
