‘I Always Go To The Toilet On The Far Left’ And More In Mario Gomez’s Exclusive

EXCLUSIVE

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Mario Gomez is in the form of his life having scored 50 goals in 2011 for club and country which makes him the most feared striker in world football today. He averages a goal per match in this season’s Champions League, seven in seven, and almost the same in Bundesliga with 16 in 17 matches. The 14 career hat-tricks only go on to highlight is hunger for goals.

In an exclusive interview, ‘Super Mario’ discusses the secret to his success, the special connection with a Brazilian striker and the dream to win the Champions League.

The Left Boot Comes On First

Gomez: I think everybody does, it is part of the routine more than it is a ritual. It’s all subconscious in my opinion. I, for instance, always put my left boot on before the right. I also always go to the toilet on the far left but it’s not as if I plan to go there specifically. It’s pretty automatic. I always conduct the same stretching exercise before the match but I think every football player does these things.

... you could say that Gomez for Bayern is as important as Messi is for Barcelona.

Gomez: These are all top players and a real top player wants to win every single match, and is always focused on success and hungry for more. Our team is like that. You only mentioned the offensive players but the same applies to the defenders, of course. The entire team is hungry for success. We are a very young team that has already collected much experience despite its youth and will remain hungry for more success.

Hunger That Preceeds Success

I believe we have a lot of power and quality in our team but even the best players have to show that every day. Talent alone isn’t enough; there is much more to it. I think the character of our players is important because not only we are good football players but we have the right attitude. The coach has shaped the team to his liking and I think we are playing a good season.

Gomez: I don’t think there is one secret to success. When I was young, I had many role models and in particularly, Romario who I admired. I think the most important thing for a young player is to simply enjoy what he is doing. You need to enjoy being on the pitch and playing football because you can’t perform well if you are not having fun. It’s the same for professionals as it is for amateurs. But it is even more important for youth teams. I think every player is better when he is enjoying himself. So I think that is most important for a young player.

This Is How I Do It | "I have my own personality and I don’t try to copy anybody"

Now I don’t have any idols any more but I do enjoy watching the international top strikers and watching them score their goals. However I don’t try to emulate what they do since I have my own style now and authority. I have my own personality and I don’t try to copy anybody.

Gomez: Currently the mixture seems to be quite good consider how well Spanish football is doing and how Germany is catching up right now. I believe these two teams will dominate football for the next few years. So to be a mixture of the two cannot be that bad! But I do believe that I am a German football player than anything else. I also know my life here playing for German clubs, German youth national teams. So I do believe I am a German football player, so to speak.

In my private life, obviously I love my family and my Spanish relatives too. When you have southern European relatives, you understand how heartfelt and emotional and loving they are. So I always look forward to seeing them and I love spending time with my family in Spain. I do consider myself in my private life to be half German and half Spanish.

Making It To The Final Says It

Gomez: Both. It is the dream of us, all footballers, to win the Champions League at some point in your career and Bayern does offer us that possibility. We are one of the best five to seven teams on the planet and we have to get demonstrate that. However you cannot plan to win the Champions League. You have to overcome so many obstacles, all the good teams in the competition and the aforementioned five-or-six teams that can realistically win it. Your form on the day is really important in the Champions League and you need a little bit of luck too. The Champions League is a knockout competition and if you play one bad match on a bad day, you are normally out. If we can prevent that from occurring, we have the quality to reach the final. But as I said, there are five-or-six other teams that want to win this competition.

And I do believe Real Madrid and Barcelona are probably a little stronger than the rest. However two years ago, we made it into the final and nobody had expected that. That tells me that it’s always possible.

Gomez: Not only the world of football and fans are looking forward to it, but so are the players. It is definitely the strongest group at the Euro with a great deal of quality. Three teams are very strong and then Denmark has absolutely nothing to lose and is therefore totally unpredictable. That is why it is a very difficult group.

When Germany Are Discussed

But I find that far more interesting than playing in a group with loads of underdogs where the fans are only discussing us how high your team will win. That wouldn’t be exciting than the task that lies ahead of us now. We all know everything is at stake from the very start. We all know we have to show one hundred percent. You cannot take slow against any of these opponents. But you have to go full speed ahead from the start of the tournament. That will certainly be difficult but it can also turn out to be a great advantage.

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