Mario Gotze, Germany
Mario Gotze, Germany
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mario Götze |
||
| Date of birth | 3 June 1992 (age 22) | ||
| Place of birth | Memmingen, Germany | ||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) |
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| Playing position | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Bayern Munich | ||
| Number | 19 |
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| Youth career | |||
| 1995–1998 | SC Ronsberg | ||
| 1998–2001 | FC Eintracht Hombruch | ||
| 2001–2009 | Borussia Dortmund | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2009–2010 | Borussia Dortmund II | 1 | (0) |
| 2009–2013 | Borussia Dortmund | 83 | (22) |
| 2013– | Bayern Munich | 27 | (10) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2007 | Germany U15 | 2 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | Germany U16 | 8 | (3) |
| 2008–2009 | Germany U17 | 13 | (5) |
| 2009 | Germany U21 | 2 | (0) |
| 2010– | Germany | 28 | (7) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:22, 3 May 2014 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:32, 1 June 2014 (UTC) |
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Age: 21
Club: Bayern Munich
Mario Gotze stunned the world footballing community last season when he agreed to join Bayern Munich just weeks before he was due to face them in the UEFA Champions League final.
The prodigious No. 10, a former favored son at Borussia Dortmund, where he came through the ranks, has now recovered from injury and begun to make his mark on coach Pep Guardiola’s first team—and boy, what an impact he’s having.
Despite being so young, he has an incredible grasp on the tactical side of the game, and with Joachim Loew’s inability to find a striker to suit Germany’s 4-2-3-1 formation, expect Gotze to grow into a free-flowing centre-forward’s role soon enough.
His weaving dribbles are Lionel Messi-esque, while his agility and small stature allow him to escape the most impossible of circumstances. Teams will mark, double-mark or perhaps even triple-mark him, but it won’t matter.
Gotze will grow over the course of the 2013-14 season, and alongside Mesut Ozil, he will fire die Mannschaft into the latter stages of the FIFA World Cup.
