'Tor-rero' torments Germany
Friday, December 22, 2006
Article summary
As uefa.com continues to pick out the rising stars of 2006, we travel to Germany to take a glance at VfB Stuttgart goalscoring prodigy Mario Gómez.
Article body
Every time he scores for VfB Stuttgart, Mario Gómez looks up to the scoreboard in the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion to see his name in lights. It shows his nickname, a play on words which nods to the 21-year-old's joint German and Spanish nationalities - 'Tor-rero'. Having scored eight times this season for Stuttgart, Gómez is getting increasingly accustomed to high acclaim.
Surprise elevation
No one, not even the tall centre forward, expected him to make such rapid progress since the summer, even though Gómez scored six goals in 30 league games last season. Already there are calls for Germany coach Joachim Löw to give the striker, who has a Spanish father and a German mother, an international call-up. "I would never have imagined this, not even in my dreams," admitted Gómez. "I only wanted to do well and score now and then."
Team spirit
Although Gómez holds two passports, he was born in Stuttgart and has already appeared for Germany in UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying campaign, missing out on next summer's finals after a play-off against England. He has had a blast this season with high-flying Stuttgart, saying: "It is hard to say how much we can achieve. We are very strong physically and have a good team, playing very aggressively with a fantastic fighting spirit."
Chance taken
Gómez arrived at Stuttgart in summer 2001 from local rivals SSV Ulm 1846 rising through the club's youth teams and the third division reserve side. His breakthrough came after an injury to Danish international Jon Dahl Tomasson and has certainly taken to the Bundesliga, like his fellow academy products Serdar Tasci in defence and midfielder Sami Khedira.
Stuttgart dreams
Six of his eight goals this season have been scored with his strong right foot, but it is not just scoring that concerns him. "The most important thing is to help my team," Gómez explained though he does not lack personal ambitions. One of them is to play against a Spanish club in the UEFA Champions League. That is a dream he could easily fulfil with Stuttgart, where he is under contract until 2011, and Gómez is eager to stick with the club. "One day people will say how great Stuttgart were in the days of their goalscorer Gómez," he said, only half joking. Those days may already have come.
