Mario Gomez has announced his retirement from international football but has not ruled out a return for the Euro 2020 if “the head coach is in desperate need for players.”
Gomez, who scored 31 goals in 78 appearances for Germany, announced his decision through a statement on Facebook.
“My international career was not always easy and I was not always successful, but the experience has been wonderful,” Gomez said. “It is now time for me to retire from the team and allow the group of young players coming through to have the opportunity to prove themselves and fulfil their dreams.”
A member of five tournament squads since 2008, Gomez was not named in the 2014 World Cup squad following an injury-plagued season at Fiorentina.
Although he returned to the team for the Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Russia, his biggest achievement with the national team remains a second-place finish in his first tournament, the Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland.
Only five of the Stuttgart striker’s 31 international goals came at a European Championship and none of them in seven appearances at a World Cup.
Regardless, Gomez said he was able to fulfil himself “a huge dream” by playing the tournament in Russia this summer “even though our performance and the dismal exit after the group stages deeply disappointed all of us.”
Turning 35 only two days before the final of the 2020 European Championship, the former Bayern Munich player left the door open on his return if called upon by the Bundestrainer.
“I will only come back in the unlikely situation that the head coach is in desperate need for players for the European Championships in two years and I feel fit enough to join the team and help,” he said.
Gomez becomes the second player to retire from the Germany team in the aftermath of the 2018 World Cup. Previously, midfielder Mesut Ozil announced his controversial withdrawal from the National mannschaft.
Gómez has both German and Spanish citizenship, but played for all German youth national teams from age 14. He made his debut for the Germany senior team against Switzerland on 7 February 2007 in Düsseldorf. Germany won the match 3–1, with Gómez scoring Germany’s second goal.
Gómez gained his second cap for Germany, coming on as a substitute for Kevin Kurányi in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier against San Marino, scoring two goals that contributed to a final 6–0 victory.
Gómez can shoot with both feet and is considered to be an aerial threat. However, his best ability remains his ability to anticipate crosses and passes, and position himself to shoot. Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger described him as “a great finisher who is often in the right place to finish off moves.”
Moreover, Gómez’s body balance and ability to hold up the ball often creates trouble for defenders. During his time at Bayern, his ability to appear “at the right place at the right time” proved to be one of Bayern’s most lethal attacking weapons as Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben could often outrun defenders and provide a cross for Gómez. However, despite his goal-scoring abilities, Gómez is often accused of having limited skills and a poor work ethic.
Gómez was born in Riedlingen. He was brought up in nearby Unlingen, an Upper Swabian village in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwestern Germany, about 100 km south of Stuttgart and 175 km west of Munich. Gómez is of German-Spanish descent; his father, José “Pepe” Gómez García, is a Spaniard from Albuñán, Granada, and his mother, Christel Roth, is German. He has dual citizenship and opted to play for Germany.
Gómez ended his nine-year relationship with Silvia Meichel on 2 October 2012.
Gómez began dating German model Carina Wanzung in December 2012. They married on 22 July 2016