Even in a moment of great satisfaction, mario gomez does not want to be left out in the cold. Not a word, not a word, and certainly not a demand was made by the national striker of vfb stuttgart to national coach joachim low.
And the question of whether low would be able to do without him at all after his gala performance in the 2-1 victory in freiburg at the soccer world cup in russia, gomez simply laughed away. "Have i ever formulated a battle cry over the press?" The 32-year-old asked with a smile. "I will never do that."His double pack for the derby victory was self-promotion enough for him. After all, low had watched his brilliant performance live in the stadium.
Things could hardly be going better for the sturmer at the moment. Vfb is practically saved because gomez has been doing what he does best again since his return in the winter: scoring goals. A few hours before kickoff in freiburg, he was also named by low to the squad for the upcoming internationals against spain and brazil.
In the DFB squad, he is fighting for a place in the world cup squad, above all with sandro wagner. While the FC bayern munchen forward had repeatedly praised himself as the best german attacker, gomez prefers to grin away such remarks. Others are talking about his qualities.
"We’ve not only brought in a player who can score the decisive goals, but we’ve also brought in a guy who gives this team incredible life," said vfb sports director michael reschke. Mario gomez does not need to write a letter of application," says coach tayfun korkut
Freiburg coach christian streich had already warned before the game that gomez didn’t need chances to score goals. Low, too, could have felt confirmed. Shortly after gomez’s second goal with a tap-in in the 75th minute, the. In the first minute, the national coach already left the stadium.
"You simply can’t leave mario gomez alone three meters in front of the goal," said freiburg’s goalkeeper nils petersen. Gomez had already scored the 1:0 goal after a free kick by dennis aogo in the penalty area. Six goals have now been scored in the second half of the season, which is three more than wagner has scored since joining the bavarians in winter.
While munich are all but assured of their next championship title, the swabians are separated by twelve points at the start of the 27th matchday. Twelve points separate the swabians from the relegation zone. But almost no one in stuttgart wants to talk about the european cup (yet).
"The european league is not a topic for us," said reschke. Even korkut didn’t want to clinch a place in the league until the game was over. Before that, "no one will think of anything else," said the 43-year-old german-turk, under whom the vfb remains unbeaten.
At least aogo, with an eye on europe, said that "everyone who plays football always wants to achieve the best possible result". If gomez continues to score so reliably, the swabians will no longer be able to avoid the european league. And gomez probably won’t be able to get past his main goal: participation in the world championships in the summer.