MARIO Gotze had the World at his feet after scoring the winning goal for Germany in the 2014 FIFA World cup final.
His goal and game changing performance in The 1-0 win against Argentina stole the show that night, but since then things have been a bit more difficult for him. Here’s what we know.
What happened to Mario Gotze after the 2014 World Cup final?
Gotze had just completed his first season at Bayern Munich when he joined up with the German squad for the World Cup.
He was previously at Borussia Dortmund, where he won two league titles, the German cup and reached a UEFA Champions league final before joining the Bavarian club.
Despite his talent, Gotze struggled to fully recapture the form which prompted Bayern to sign him in 2014, missing almost 30 games over three seasons through fitness issues.
Injury problems and punditry criticisms followed him into EURO 2016, where Germany reached the semi-finals.
Gotze played only 20 minutes in the knockout stages as the Germans lost 2-0 to hosts France.
He then returned to former club Dortmund in 2016, but struggled to contribute in terms of goals and assists.
After this, he was left out of the national team for over a year, and was ultimately not selected in the squad for the 2018 World cup in Russia.
He eventually made the decision to leave Dortmund for a second time after the expiry of his contract in 2020.
Where is Mario Gotze now?
After rediscovering his form at PSV Eindhoven, where he won two trophies in two seasons, Gotze returned to German football with Eintracht Frankfurt.
They signed him for £2.5million in June 2022 on a three-year deal.
He helped Frankfurt reach the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions league for the first time since 1960, a season where they would reach the final.
This form was rewarded with a place in Germany’s 2022 World cup squad. He played twice as the team exited in the group stages.
What illness does Mario Gotze have?
Gotze suffers with myopathy, which is a muscular disorder which effects the fibres in his muscles.
He revealed this in 2017, during an already injury-hit season.
He ended up only making eleven league appearances in the 2016/17 Bundesliga season because of this.
