No matter what Mario Gotze does between now and the end of his footballing career, he will almost certainly be best remembered for scoring the winning goal for Germany against Argentina in the 2014 World Cup final.
Latching onto Andre Schurrle’s dinked cross inside the penalty area, Gotze remained composed as he chested the ball into his stride and lashed a left-footed shot past Sergio Romero in the 113th minute of the gruelling encounter at the Maracana.
It was a crucial, incredibly significant goal; one Gotze will remember for the rest of his life.
“That is, of course, an incredibly vivid moment for me,” Gotze said. “Scoring that goal was just the greatest experience.
“To have scored against Argentina in Brazil, at the point in time, and how it all turned out, I think if you could imagine such a moment, you couldn’t imagine it better than that.
“At times it’s more present in my mind than at other times, but it’s always there.”
Despite scoring the goal that propelled him to superstardom, Gotze was not able to bask in the glory of his efforts in Brazil for too long.
The rigours of club football allowed Germany’s hero little time to rest on his laurels, but like any top player Gotze is intent on winning more trophies rather than savouring the ones he has already won.
“It wasn’t so easy, after such a success, to process it all; you have three or four weeks off, at the most, and then you have to start training again.” he said.
“It [the goal] will always be with me, which is really nice; on the other hand though, you know that life goes on, I still have my career ahead of me and still have many years of playing. I’m really looking forward to that, too.”
.jpg?auto=webp&format=pjpg&width=640&quality=60)
