He was not allowed to save the 2022 World Cup in Qatar for Germany.

National coach Hansi Flick only allowed Mario Götze 37 minutes.

But maybe Flick will come back to the midfielder at the 2024 European Championship, who has been putting together one outstanding performance after another at Eintracht Frankfurt for six months.

In any case, it shouldn't be Götze's fault, the 30-year-old is anything but offended: "If Hansi Flick calls me and asks, I'll come," said the game designer on Wednesday at the Europa League winner's training camp.

"It would be super nice to be part of the European Championship."

Peter Hess

sports editor.

  • Follow I follow

He did not want this sentence to be understood as a demand.

"It has to fit into the context of the coach, the team and my performance.

Of course the goal is to play in 2024.

In the end, however, the performance on the pitch decides.

You have to deliver every month so that you belong to the national team.” A good six weeks after the preliminary round of the DFB selection in Qatar, Götze shows a lot of understanding for the national coach, who brought him back to the national team after a five-year break, but then only employed him briefly as a supporting actor .

"It was clear to me that after five years it would not be easy for me to find my role in the national team construct.

In addition, we only had a very short preparation, it was not so easy for the coach to find a well-rehearsed team that is there on the spot. block trusted.

Rode criticizes Flick

His teammate Sebastian Rode, on the other hand, criticized the national coach a few days ago for taking Götze with him but not using his skills: "If I invite Mario, I have to know how to deal with him.

That he is not a player who is supposed to tear something for the last ten minutes, but one who can fit into the team from the start.

I would have seen him from the beginning of one or the other game because he has the quality to solve different things that others didn't have in the form.

When asked about Rode's sentences on Wednesday, Götze responded with a little joke: "Yes, I told Sebastian that he should say that." Then he got serious: "As an athlete you always want to play, and I was in the moment and after that Exit also disappointed and upset.

But then the vacation with the family came quickly, and I refocused myself again."

Stay focused

Which was not a favor from Flick, but deserved because of his ideas for Eintracht.

"He took us to a new level," praised sporting director Markus Krösche recently.

Despite all the recognition, Götze remains modest and cautious: "It seems so," he replies when asked whether he did everything right in the summer when he switched to Eintracht.

He feels super comfortable and enjoys playing with this team.

But football is so fast-moving: “We have an excellent starting position for the second half of the season.

How we defended in the first half of the season, how we attacked, the complete package that we delivered all three days was impressive.

But after just two or three weaker weeks, things can look very different again.”

That's why the team has to keep working hard and be focused every day.

But he doesn't want to worry either: "It's realistic that we'll continue like this, we've proven that we can do it." His desired goal for the rest of the season?

"If we finish fourth in the Bundesliga, everything will be fine."