Mario Gomez had disappeared from the media scene for over a year. Now he’s back – in a new role. In an interview with t-online, he talks about what he plans to do and who serves as a role model.
What is actually doing Mario Gomez? This question is likely to have arisen not only for fans of the VfB Stuttgart have asked. After the 1: 3 the Swabians against Darmstadt 98 He ended his professional career on June 28, 2020, when Gomez was allowed to register for the last time in the list of goalscorers. Now he is returning to the football stage.
Mario Gomez will be seen and heard as an expert for Prime Video. The streaming provider secured the Champions League– Rights for the top game on Tuesday. How he dealt with the end of his career, what he sets out to do for his new job and how he is today about the harsh criticism of Mehmet Scholl from 2012 thinks he betrayed t-online.
t-online: Mr. Gomez, it was more than 13 months ago that you scored your last goal as a professional footballer, and you have been retired from football for over a year. Has the past twelve months been short or long for you?
Mario Gomez (36): It was actually a very short year because I spent a lot of time with my family and withdrew. Three children are also quite a challenge. The time with the family and my friends slowed everything down a bit. Despite the pandemic that prevented the planned travel, I am very grateful for this year’s break.
What role did football play?
A subordinate one, but of course I watched a lot of games anyway – to be prepared for what’s coming next.
It sounds like you’ve come to terms with the end of your career very well and quickly.
I was and am realistic when it comes to my performance. Nothing was taken from me because I consciously chose the time to say goodbye and was able to prepare accordingly for my end as a footballer. Since then, I haven’t had the feeling for a second that I have to play football again.
Wasn’t there a bit of melancholy?
Sure, the feeling after a great training session, after a victory in the dressing room, that will always be missing because it was part of my life. I try to balance that with recreational sports. My body is crying out to work out. But I never felt the need to put my football boots on again and play in front of thousands of spectators.
Her career ended with advancement into the Bundesliga, You also scored in your last home game – but in front of empty spectators.
I am totally at peace with myself. That was a very nice ending for me. My last assignment was done. Now I can do new things, such as an expert job Amazon Prime Video dedicate what I’m really looking forward to.
How much do you miss the video evidence?
(Laughs) I’ve already heard that I’m always the subject of discussions at the DFL. Because of: “If it were up to Mario Gomez, he would have been abolished long ago”. But that’s not true.
No?
Mario Gomez: The long-time Bundesliga striker struggled repeatedly with the video evidence in his career. (Source: Poolfoto / imago images)
The execution is not ideal. I still believe that in sticky situations, its use should be left more in the hands of the teams, similar to a hockey challenge. That would be the better option. Not abolish, but modify. In addition, with my frustration at the time, there was one thing that should not be forgotten.
In fact?
I always spoke directly from the emotion. If you stand in front of the camera after a possibly lost game, you will not have a cool head. By far I can say that the VAR represents an improvement overall, but the project is still in its infancy. In principle, we can therefore state: I am not an opponent of video evidence.
Let’s get to your new job. You will be heard on Prime Video as an expert in the Champions League. When did you want to take a job on TV? How exactly did the talks go?
Mario Gomez: The 36-year-old analyzes the Champions League games on Tuesday on Prime Video. (Source: Prime Video)
The conversations had been going on for a long time. During my active career, I was already thinking about the time after that. The combination of the team that Amazon put together and the top game on Tuesday, which I find super exciting. The job is not completely new to me because I have experience in front of the camera – only now I’m on the other side.
In 2012 there was an expert, Mehmet Scholl, who sharply criticized you at the European Championship. How do you feel about the case today?
Mehmet Scholl is an expert who is very entertaining. He always has a casual line to say and a lot of people who sit at home want to hear just that. It was the same with me back then. My way of working will be that I will of course state things clearly, but never want to be personally hurtful.
In contrast to Scholl?
I trust Mehmet Scholl to have the intelligence that he can overwhelm what such a saying does. Especially at an EM. A TV event in which 82 million national coaches sit on the sofas. He knew it was going to make huge waves. In my eyes that was below the belt at the time. But that’s long gone and it doesn’t matter today either. I can say: There will be no such sayings from me.
Mehmet Scholl: The then ARD expert had sharply criticized Mario Gomez after the preliminary round match against Portugal at the EM 2012. (Source: Norbert Schmidt / imago images)
Is there a TV expert who is particularly useful to you?
The expert par excellence was certain Jürgen Klopp. But he is also unbeatable as a trainer when it comes to getting people carried away. He’s the best at this. But I also appreciate the analyzes of Lothar Matthäus very. He is to the point, open, honest. or Sandro Wagner: strong in terms of content, but still entertaining. They’re all different types, but I really, really like to listen to everyone.
You will now accompany games in the Champions League on Prime Video. A competition that you won yourself in 2013 – one year after the drama in the “Home Final”. Have you ever been able to cope with this disgrace?
From a negative point of view, this is certainly the event that has had the greatest impact. It is still incomprehensible to this day how we could not win this game. Munich, 30 degrees, sunshine. The whole city was behind us, the party was planned. You will probably never get over it.
After all, you could do better a year later.
After the defeat in 2012, there was five to ten days of pure disappointment. After that, a “now more than ever” atmosphere has set in the team chat. The energy that we had in 2012/2013, I will never experience it again. We were a brilliant unit from the first to the last man. It was actually already clear to us three weeks after the “final at home” in 2012 that we would win the 2013 pot. And that’s how it turned out in the end.
.
