In football there is an art that is far too often underappreciated. The focus is on the goal scorers, the assist providers, the goalkeepers who show spectacular saves. It was no different on Monday evening at the DFB Cup match in the first round of Eintracht Frankfurt in Magdeburg. Kevin Trapp prevented the early equalizer by saving a penalty from Andreas Müller (7th minute). And Daichi Kamada (4th and 59th) as well as Jesper Lindström (32nd) and Lucas Alario (90th) were also cheered because they shot the ball into the goal of the second division promoted team for a 4-0 away win.
However, the prelude to the hits is often overlooked. Before the playground equipment is at the point from which it flies into the net, many feet are involved. The so-called penultimate pass – also known as “pre-assist” in football newspeak – is highly valued among experts. He paves the way to scoring, which ideally is easy in the end. Mario Götze is one of the masters of this underestimated form of lawn art. Anyone who looked very closely in Magdeburg saw how the 2014 World Champion repeatedly used small actions to get his team-mates into positions that made for dangerous actions.
Before Frankfurt’s early opening goal, Götze got the ball on the outside line in his own half from Filip Kostic, took it with his left foot and immediately ticked it forward along the line with his right. Tick. tack Götze had recognized the immense free space that the people of Magdeburg were giving up there. And despite the short time together, he knew about the speed of his new teammate Kostic. He sprinted past Götze and the opponents to the ball and with it towards the baseline, looked up briefly and placed it in the back of the penalty area. Kamada came, shot and hit.
“This is the highest art”
On the other side of the field, Götze cavorted in front of the second goal. A laydown from Lindström, he also accepted in his own half, lifted his head and sent the nimble Ansgar Knauff deep into the opposing half. The goalkeeper still failed, but Lindström, who had moved up, flicked the rebounding ball into the goal, which is well worth seeing. The fact that Götze only became the pre-assistant through Knauff’s wasted opportunity didn’t matter to Oliver Glasner. “This wide-ranging view when the opponent is pressing and then having the solution ready is the supreme art,” said the coach.
Sports director Markus Krösche and Glasner had convinced Götze in the summer to come back to the Bundesliga after positions in Dortmund and Munich and the step out of the German spotlight to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands. After difficult years since the triumph in Rio in 2014, also caused by a metabolic disorder that became public in 2017, the new start was successful. Götze, who had been introduced to the maximum load during the preparation by working part-time, showed himself to be well integrated. Glasner’s conclusion: “Excellent, Mario moved very well.”
The coach of the Europa League winner was not only happy about the confident advancement of his team. After all, Magdeburg was considered a tricky opponent. The questions after the game also made the Austrian smile. “I’m a little amused that everyone asks me about Mario, even though Daichi Kamada scored two goals. Normally people always ask who scored the goal or who saved a penalty.” That shows “the importance that Mario still enjoys in Germany. And he proved that impressively today.”
The so promised returned the favor to the coach. “Of course he also gives me freedom. I think maybe I can be the piece of the puzzle in the system. I’m looking forward to starting the season with the team,” said Götze, who was substituted after 79 minutes, on Sky TV. After his debut in a competitive game, he already considered the return to his home country to be the right step. “It was a good decision for me, it feels good, the complete package was just good, it feels right to me,” said the 30-year-old on ARD.
A little touch and the opponents are out of the game: Götze has mastered the art of football.
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Image: dpa
In order for it to stay that way, however, more than one successful game in the first round of the DFB Cup is necessary. Two highlights are now waiting for the Frankfurters, in which they have to prove themselves. On Friday (8.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga, on Sat.1 and Sky) champions FC Bayern come to the opening game of the new Bundesliga season, on Wednesday (9 p.m. on DAZN) it is then in Helsinki against Champions League winners Real Madrid for the European Supercup. “I’m looking forward to it, my first home game against Bayern, it’s going to be good,” said Götze. Many will now take a close look at him.
