Mario Götze reflects on Germany’s World Cup campaign

It has been a while since 2014 World Cup hero and Bayern Munich alum Mario Götze wore the German colours. After widely-criticized performances in the 2016 European Championship, Götze found himself not featuring in the 2018 World Cup, where Germany went on to exit in the Group Stage. After five years, Götze has found himself playing for Germany yet again in the World Cup after being selected by coach Hansi Flick.

The circumstances of his return have not been favourable — Germany have not been at their best and Götze barely got to play, but he isn’t one to get disheartened over the same, or look for excuses.

On his official Twitter account, Götze expressed his disappointment over the World Cup:

I’m still disappointed about how the World Cup ended for us. It’s really been an up and down over the last two weeks. I also think that the overall performance was better than the results imply. But it does not help to look for excuses.

In the end, we missed too many chances and made mistakes in the wrong moments. It’s important to reflect the way we played and to improve for next time.

For me personally, it was a great feeling to be back representing Germany and I tried to give my best whenever I stepped on the pitch. To play in front of my son at a World Cup makes me extremely proud and created a memory, I’ll never forget.

It’s good to end on a positive note! Now, it’s on to the Rückrunde campaign for Götze and his fourth-place Eintracht Frankfurt team. And with the 2024 European Championships coming in just eighteen months’ time, who knows what the future will hold. There might be more to this redemption story yet!