The Renaissance of Bayern Munich's Mario Gomez (Part 2)
The faith shown by Louis Van Gaal finally started paying off as he put his name on the score sheet against CFR Cluj in the Champions League and against Freiburg in the Bundesliga. These performances were then followed by another hat trick at Cluj in the Champions League. Mario Gomez had at last started finding his feet in the Bayern Munich team and he became a regular fixture in Louis Van Gaal’s starting XI.
Van Gaal deserves a lot of credit for this as he was the one who showed faith in the striker’s ability despite his failure to score in 2 consecutive league games. Gomez was given at least 80 minutes to score a goal and Van Gaal resisted the temptation to withdraw the striker in favour of Ivica Olic or Miroslav Klose.
Mario Gomez has now found the net 9 times in his 15 appearances for Bayern Munich and is back on track after finding his goal scoring touch. 8 of the 9 goals Gomez scored have come in the last 6 games.
Bayern Munich are 9 points behind the 1st-placed Borussia Dortmund after 9 games and it is a great omen to witness the rehabilitation of their record signing at such a crucial stage, when it was needed the most.
Although, it took Mario Gomez a season to justify his price tag but his recent goal scoring form has reminded all of us that form may be temporary but class is always permanent.
If Bayern Munich are to repeat their efforts of last season and win the Bundesliga title, they must make sure that Mario Gomez keeps his revival on track as he may well be the deciding factor for them this season.
The renaissance of Gomez is also a good news for Germany as the team looks to qualify for the European Cup and would be itching to get its hands on the trophy after proving so many people wrong in the World Cup in South Africa. The partnership of Mueller and Gomez can become the most effective and lethal strike partnership as both strikers are in great form.
Mario Gomez time line:
2004: Mario Gomez plays 10 minutes for VFB Stuttgart in the Champions League against Chelsea at home and later on, makes his debut in the Bundesliga.
2004-2005: Mario Gomez ends the season on a high after scoring 15 goals in 24 games for the reserve team and makes 8 appearances for the 1st team.
2005-2006: The 21 year old German of Spanish descent joins VFB Stuttgart permanently and goes on to play 30 times in Bundesliga while scoring 6 times. The striker also scores twice in the UEFA Cup and 3 times in DFB-Pokal.
2006-2007: The youngster establishes himself as the hottest prospect and among the top scorers in Bundesliga but in 2007; he breaks his hand and then tears his right knee ligament. He makes his comeback in May 2007, scoring upon his return as he leads Stuttgart to Bundesliga glory.
2007: Owing to his performances that helped Stuttgart win Bundesliga title, Mario Gomez is named German Player of the Year and gets a contract extension with the club until 2012.
2007-2008: In 2007-08 season, VFB Stuttgart struggle to repeat their previous season’s performance but Gomez still scores 19 times in 25 matches. He is nicknamed “Mr. Zuverlässig” (Mr. Reliable) as his goal scoring prowess starts alerting top clubs around Europe.
2009: On 26th May 2009, Mario Gomez is bought by German giants Bayern Munich for a Bundesliga record fee of €35 million.
2009-2010: His debut season with Bayern Munich proves to be a disaster as the prolific striker scores only 14 goals and is relegated to the bench while Ivica Olic is preferred to pair up with Mueller.
The end of the season saw Mario Gomez’s teammates win the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and also reach the final of Champions League.
FIFA 2010 World Cup - South Africa:
The 2010 World Cup turns out to be a memorable event for a young German team that is lead by Mario Gomez’s teammate at Bayern Munich, Phillipe Lahm. But, Gomez is yet again left disappointed as he takes no part in Germany’s run to the semifinal and plays a total of only 25 minutes throughout the World Cup.
Start of 2010-2011 season:
Mario Gomez has so far scored 9 times in 15 games for Bayern Munich and is back in the national team setup. He seems to have finally put behind his disappointing start to life at Munich.
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