This week, Mario Götze played his first game in over five months for Borussia Dortmund in a pre-season friendly in Japan.
The German midfielder came on for thirty minutes in Dortmund’s 3-2 win against Urawa Red Diamonds after 167 days – almost half a year - of inaction.
The appearance, albeit in a pre-season game, was a huge step for the 25-year-old after he was withdrawn from his club’s training in February due to a serious metabolic disorder.
His substitution after 62 minutes was met with rapturous applause by the 65,000-strong packed into the stadium. Speaking after the match, a clearly delighted Götze said, “It was not so easy for me the last few months, so it’s a good moment for me.”
The former Bayern Munich playmaker had been diagnosed earlier this year with myopathy, a metabolic disorder which is particularly damaging for athletes as it leads to muscle weakness and fatigue, delaying recovery time after exercise.
Götze has had a long, difficult rehabilitation which involved, as he revealed himself, a “special program, which intensified day by day and week by week.”
Throughout his career, Götze has been subjected to much criticism and heavy expectation from both the media and fans. At just 17 years of age he was spoken of as “one of the best talents Germany has ever had” by the legendary Matthias Sammer.
As his move to Munich piled the pressure on the young Götze’s shoulders, he was accused of being lazy, fat and that he had a bad attitude towards training and matches. Even before his big money move, one of Götze’s nicknames at Dortmund had been 'Pummelfee' (chubby fairy).
The diagnosis of myopathy shed a different light on the player’s struggles and explained why he was often branded overweight and seen to be slacking off in matches and training sessions.
Despite using his wonderful artistry to score the winning goal on that famous night in Rio as Germany won the World Cup, and becoming the second most expensive transfer in German footballing history when he moved to Bayern Munich for €37m, Götze’s career has been largely disappointing since his stunning breakthrough year when he won the Bundesliga with Dortmund in 2010/11.
His three seasons in Bavaria were cloaked in disappointment. He lacked consistency and the odd moment of magic could not mask his overall performances for club and country.
Now, hopefully, we’ll see the real Götze once again.
The footballing world will be a better place with this exciting, creative and immensely talented footballer, especially in a footballing world where big, strong, physical athletes dominate the beautiful game.
Götze, for his part, is sounding cautious.
“It is very simple,” he recently told the German media. “I want to be healthy and able to play. That’s my only aim at the moment.”
