Interview: "I want to lift the European Champs trophy on July 10, it's my birthday"

Mario Gomez (30) won his first German league championship with VfB Stuttgart in 2007. He added two more titles in 2010 and 2013 when at Bayern Munich with whom he also won the Champions League in 2013. The striker with Spanish roots missed the 2014 World Cup with Germany after a series of injuries at his Italian club AC Fiorentina.

He joined Besiktas Istanbul last season and his 26 goals in the Turkish Championship have helped the club win the 2015/16 title. Now the Stuttgart-born striker has been called up once again for the German national squad by head coach Joachim Loew. The German team starts with Euro 2016 France preparation this Tuesday. "Nobody was waiting for me, it was my job to come back," said Gomes in a recent Xinhua Interview.

Xinhua: Mr. Gomez, do you like fairytales?

Gomez: I've heard many in my life as everyone has and like everyone else, I have a lot of good memories of being told fairytales. (laughing) But now you are not talking about me are you?

Xinhua: Bet we are. Many call it a fairytale what happened in the last 12 month. They call it the Mario Gomez fairytale.

Gomez: (laughing) We don't have to put it that dramatically. Fact is, I was far away from getting selected for the German national team after two years in Florence having injury problems, not getting into best shape and not being able to deliver the performances I expected of myself. It was a hard time, but I knew there was still life in me. Last summer, I said to myself I'll do everything to be part of the German squad at EURO 2016.

Xinhua: You didn't feel as if you were taking a risk by going to a foreign league like the Turkish?

Gomez: I wouldn't call it a risk, but it was perhaps a step into the unknown. Now I can say it was the perfect step. I'm happy and proud to have made a success of moving to the new league. In the end my will, my ambitions and my work has been rewarded.

Xinhua: Did you have any doubts in Florence about your career or did you feel that can't be everything, there has to be more?

Gomez: Well there were doubts regarding the national team. I knew, any more injuries and it might be the end of my international career. But I knew I could make it. I thought of all the people that have come back after having a tough time. In sports, nobody can really explain what it takes to come back.

Xinhua: So the key for your return was self-confidence?

Gomez: I just knew it was up to me to come back. In situations like that nobody is waiting for you, you have to do the job yourself. Many didn't expect me to come back. For some joining Besiktas was like: There's a player past his prime looking to have a few nice years in the twilight of his career. But in my head I had a clear plan. I had trustful and intense talks with the club and the coach and felt, we are both ambitious. It was important for me to join a club that is ambitious. I didn't want to have to accuse myself of not having done everything to get back on track.

Xinhua: Does it make things easier that expectations are lower after the hard time you had in Florence?

Gomez: I think there will always be expectations for a long as I am a player. If it does not work well at EURO 2016, I'm sure people won't be saying, well, no problem, he's suffered a lot of injuries in the recent past. I was far away, now I am as good as back in the middle. In sport, it's basically the present moment that counts, and that's what counts for me. Expectations as far as the German team is concerned are huge, especially as Germany won the 2014 World Cup.

Xinhua: The national team is one thing, the club another. A footballer's performance in club football is always the basis for more. When did you have the feeling, I'm on the way back?

Gomez: Right from the start actually. I had the feeling I was able to go flat out and make my mark physically in games. Important was how our club coach Senol Gunes handles me. He had a clear plan which was to let me play when I was fully fit. He gave me time to recover and get fully fit. I missed the first two games but I felt the confidence he had in me. As for the German national team, I knew at about the time of our game in Paris, I'm really near the team again, despite the dreadful things that happened on the night. Over the years you learn to read your body and I felt the power was back.

Xinhua: How about the relationship with Joachim Loew. Did you have to do any work on the relationship after you weren't selected for the 2014 World Cup squad?

Gomez: You might be surprised but there was no work to do. I was disappointed not to be part of the World Cup but I at no point was angry with him, it was my fault, I was not fit, I was not performing. Frankly I didn't deserve to be part of the squad. We talked a lot together after the World Cup. I told him we don't have to settle anything. I wasn't fit, end of the story. What I told him was: I'll do everything I can to be a part of the team in France in 2016. I think, he could see, I kept my promises.

Xinhua: At the moment in front of us is a Mario Gomez full of confidence . . . .

Gomez: From the fitness point of view, things couldn't be better. I think I did not miss a single training session last year. The continuity is back. Some games reminded me of the years in Stuttgart, when we played a similar power-football. I just feel at the moment my full power is back.

Xinhua: Has being able to stay fit over the entire season anything to do with a new training regime or a change of nutrition?

Gomez: Not at all. In the past I never really had any real problems. I played over ten years without suffering any serious injuries. The last seven months in Florence weren't that bad and I could start on my comeback trail.

Xinhua: Did the hard time influence you as a person or footballer? Besides the injury problems in Florence, fans seemed to have lost confidence in you generally. After you failed to hit the target from point blank range at the 2008 European Championships, some people called you a poor finisher.

Gomez: Neither nor to be honest, I just feel a deep amount of serenity I never felt before. In all that time I trained a lot, I did not think about the future. It was the moment that was important. At the same time, I knew it is my way and I will make it, especially because I felt this calmness inside me. Maybe it had to do with experience and my age. I maybe have another three, four or five years in me. When you are 20 you might want everything right away and you try to please everybody around you. I just accepted I had to go through a tough time. I knew to please everyone is a fight I can't win. It's much more important that I feel well and am happy.

Xinhua: Looking at the current World Champions, expectations are extraordinarily high ahead of the EURO 2016. How do you deal with it as part of the 2016 squad and how do team and coach deal with it?

Gomez: For a German team it is nothing unusual, let's call it daily business when it comes to major tournaments. We can deal with such expectations; but our own expectations are the biggest anyway. As for EURO 2016, we want to win the title no doubt. But at first we have to create a similar team spirit like the one in Brazil. As at the World Cup there are many strong teams around. France are the hosts, Belgium, though they don't have much experience they have outstanding players, there is Spain, England, Italy - it is not going to be a piece of cake. We are not saying we are an unbeatable but we say we are a team that can make it to the top if everything works well. I'm sure the Brazil experience will help the team, but it is far from being a life insurance.

Xinhua: Joachim Loew emphasized, what counts most for him is team-spirit. Many are convinced Germany won the title in Brazil because they had an unbeatable team-spirit.

Gomez: I fully identify with that. I'm a striker but I feel happy in a team working well together. If we win the title in France and I can provide three good minutes or just two games with goals, I will be happy. I want to win the tournament and I will do everything that is needed to get to the top with the team. We know we have the ability to win the tournament, but we know at the same time it is a long road.

Xinhua: A striker needs crosses and passes to score. Is there a tactical system that suits you best? Besiktas plays a rather offensive style with a strong midfield providing a great service to their strikers?

Gomez: In the last few years, I managed to play a more flexible game regarding tactics. Maybe in Bayern with the coaches Louis van Gaal and Jupp Heynckes, it was clear we have a high amount of ball possession and have to attack on that basis. A result is sometimes that your game is a fair bit more static except when you have to counter attack quickly. In Besiktas' system, I maybe could use my power as a counter attacking player a bit more. But today it is necessary for every top team to change tactics and systems to be successful. Bayern, Barcelona and others showed that as the Germany and Spain have done. Flexibility is the future, a four or three man defense, different systems in midfield is what counts in order to find solutions to the different challenges posed by the different teams.

Xinhua: Do you have a very personal goal for EURO 2016?

Gomez: (laughing) Yes there is one.

Xinhua: Sounds like a very special one.

Gomez: It is one every human can understand. I want to lift the European trophy on July 10. It's my birthday. Enditem