To make the fortunes ofEintracht Frankfurt it’s not just Marmoush bomber jackets. The Eagles Germans, in fact, also count a lot on the 2014 World Champion Mario Gotzewho on the day of his 100th appearance scored a very important goal for the final 1-0 over Werder Bremen. And overtaking Leipzig in the standings to reach the second step of the podium. But what path did the 32-year-old take to Eintracht?
At risk of fading
As hard as it may seem to believe, Mario Götze’s career was seriously threatened about four years ago. After being released by Dortmund due to an expiring contract at the end of the 2019/20 season, the scorer of the goal that won Germany the 2014 World Cup spent the entire summer as a free agent, without a club. No team showed interest in signing him until PSV Eindhoven signed him, but only in October, several months after the transfer deadline. Some thought that the little footballer, suffering from a metabolic disorder, should retire.
The ambitions
But as admitted in an interview with Kickers some time ago, Götze insisted on the dream of winning the Champions League. But he may still be able to realize this ambition with Eintracht Frankfurt. Having landed in 2022, the 32-year-old German is certainly finding consistency in all competitions (790 minutes in total) and the latest goal scored with Bremen is a further icing on the cake. But the former Bayern and BVB player remained calm: “We have to be realistic. It’s a long season. We have a young team and there will be some instabilities. We also have to look at the games one by one. We only won 1-0 against Werder , drew 1-1 against Union and risked a draw against Stuttgart.”
His position at Eintracht
“We have a lot of young, good players. And a lot of quality. We have a lot of fun here. And that’s always the goal: football and having fun. I feel like a grandfather here,” he said, smiling. “The focus is more on regeneration and discussions with the coach and the athletic training department. I can’t play 90 minutes every match on weeks with close matches,” he added. But if at 32 he continues to have the quality to hold up to certain levels, he can only be an ace in the hole for Roma’s future challenger in the Europa League.
The complete Bundesliga schedule
Friday 22 November
Bayern Munich – Augsburg 3-0
Saturday 23 November
Borussia Dortmund – Freiburg 4-0
Hoffenheim – Leipzig 4-3
Bayer Leverkusen – Heidenheim 5-2
Stuttgart – Bochum 2-0
Wolfsburg – Union Berlin 1-0
Eintracht Frankfurt – Werder Bremen 1-0
Sunday 24 November
Kiel – Mainz
Bor. Monchengladbach – St. Pauli
Classification
Bayern Munich 29
Eintracht Frankfurt 23
Leipzig 21
Bayer Leverkusen 20
Borussia Dortmund 19
Freiburg 17
Stuttgart 16
Union Berlin 16
Werder Bremen 15
Wolfsburg 15
Borussia Monchengladbach 14
Mainz 13
Hoffenheim 12
Augusta 12
Heidenheim 10
St. Pauli 8
Kiel 5
Bochum 2