Mario Gotze is a German professional football player who plays as an attacking midfielder for the sports club Borussia Dortmund and the German national team. He is well-known for his quickness, technique, and dribbling. Mathias Summer, a former technical director of the German Football Association, considered him one of Germany’s top talents. He began playing football at the age of eight when he joined Dortmund’s youth academy in Memmingen, Germany. He eventually made his Bundesliga debut when he was around seventeen years old. During the 2009–2010 Bundesliga season, he was promoted to the first team. Later, he signed with Borussia Dortmund, where he has proven to be a valuable asset. He is also a member of the German national football squad, having been chosen for the first time in 2010. He was a member of the team at the UEFA Euro 2012, and two years later, he was a member of the team at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where he helped Germany win the tournament by scoring the game-winning goal in extra time in the final match of the World Cup.
Childhood and Adolescence
Mario Gotze was born on June 3, 1992, in Memmingen, Germany, to Jurgen and Astrid Gotze. His father is a professor at the University of Technology in Dortmund.
Mario began playing for Dortmund’s youth team when he was eight years old. Fabian, his older brother, is currently a free agent.
Club Professionalism
Mario Gotze made his Bundesliga debut in November 2009. He came on as a substitute for Jakub Bazczykowski. He was promoted to the first squad later in the 2009-10 season. During the 2010–11 season, he demonstrated his effectiveness as a player, finishing with eight goals and eleven assists.
He later competed in the 2011 German Super Cup but was defeated by Schalke 04. The next year, he was diagnosed with a hip ailment after the cartilage in his hip got inflamed under stress. He signed a new deal with Borussia Dortmund in March 2012.
Gotze made his debut for the club as a substitute against Borussia Mönchengladbach. He won the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund in 2012, setting a record for the most points in a season with 81. During the 2012–13 season, he came on as a substitute and scored the game-winning goal against Werder Bremen. The next time they played, he scored three goals to help his team win 5-1 against Hannover 96.
He was sold to Bayern Munich in 2013 when the club activated his 37 million euro release clause. He scored his first goal for Bayern in a Champions League group stage encounter against Viktoria Plze, leading his club to a 5-0 triumph. He concluded the season with a total of 15 goals and 14 assists.
His play improved in his second season with the squad, as he finished the season with 15 goals in 48 games. He failed to make an impact on the squad at the start of the 2015-16 season, but his play improved afterward. He scored the second goal in his team’s 0-3 win over Olympiacos in the 2015-16 Champions League. Later that season, during the 2016–17 season, he confirmed his return to Borussia Dortmund on a four-year contract.
He lost his first match back against RB Leipzig in September 2016, although he was nevertheless praised for his comeback to the team. He had two goals in sixteen games this season. Despite a drop in performance during the 2017–18 season, he still managed to score two goals in 32 appearances.
Career Opportunities Abroad
Mario Gotze made his international debut for Germany in November 2010. His debut against Sweden ended in a goalless draw. In February 2011, he made his second debut for the national team in a friendly against Italy. As a result, he became Germany’s youngest goal scorer.
At UEFA Euro 2012, he made his tournament debut as a substitute against Greece. He scored four goals in World Cup qualification in 2014, and his name was added to Germany’s roster for the tournament finals. He scored the first goal in the tournament’s second encounter against Ghana, earning him the title of “Man of the Match.”
He came on as a substitute in the World Cup final against Argentina and scored the game-winning goal, helping his country win the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He was dubbed “Man of the Match,” and he became the first substitute player in World Cup history to score the game-winning goal.
Personal Existence
Since 2012, Mario Gotze has been dating German model Ann-Kathrin Brömmel. They got married in 2018.
In 2017, it was revealed that he had a metabolic condition, which was later determined to be myopathy. It is a muscular condition that prevents muscles from functioning normally. Later, he issued a statement stating that he was undergoing treatment and would return soon to assist his team in achieving their objectives.