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A very difficult year for all of us is coming to an end - our football year was also dominated by an invisible opponent.

The corona virus.

I really appreciate the fact that as a professional footballer I am still very privileged compared to other professional groups, but the year has not been a lot of fun for me.

As a German playing abroad, I was isolated from family and very close friends for a very long time.

I couldn't visit her and neither could she visit me.

In the fall I infected myself with the virus.

It definitely felt worse than the normal flu.

Since then, at the latest, I've been taking the risk 100 percent seriously.

It hit me very hard, even though I'm a young and well-trained professional athlete.

With the vaccinations coming up in 2021, we can all see some light at the end of the tunnel, but we shouldn't underestimate the danger that still exists.

We still have a long way to go, but the signs seem to be good that from spring we can go a little more towards normalcy from month to month.

But it is all the more important that everyone lives up to their responsibilities in society and does not only think of themselves.

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With regard to the EM 2021, I naturally hope that we can play again in front of (some) spectators in the stadiums and that we can deliver more positive results and performances than last at the March international matches.

I can assure everyone that the Spain game annoyed each and every one of us, and it still does today.

My goal is to at least reach the EM semi-finals

But we all know that the absolutely decisive competition will start in June 2021.

With a positive start to the tournament against France, we can forget a lot of things that have happened lately in 90 minutes - that's what we need to focus on in order to play a successful European Championship.

My goal is to at least reach the semi-finals.

But for this we also need a more positive mood in our entire environment.

That is of course first and foremost the task of us players to take care of them again with successful performances.

Ilkay Gündogan was born in Gelsenkirchen.

He has played 42 international matches for Germany so far and has been under contract with Manchester City since 2016

Source: dpa / Ina Fassbender

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It feels like the interest of many fans has decreased a bit, which is more than understandable overall due to the results and certainly also the corona situation or the ghost games.

Nonetheless, I hope that we will get the support of the fans again before the tournament starts - even if the games last took place without spectators anyway, we still feel the negativity around us enormously.

But only with the right backing can we build on top performance together, and we as a team have the responsibility to win them back in March. 

With this in mind, I wish everyone a successful, healthy and, hopefully, happier and more successful year 2021 on all levels.

Greetings from Manchester,

Ilkay