Former Germany international and Bayern Munich star Mario Gomez Garcia joins Nigerian legend Austin Jay-Jay Okocha, Austrian football icon David Alaba and Argentina hero Lionel Messi reported Soccernet.ng.
Gomez revealed that legendary Nigerian midfielder Austin Jay-Jay Okocha was his soccer idol during his playing days.
Gomez enjoyed an illustrious professional career spanning almost 18 years, 11 of which were spent with the German national team.
The former FC Bayern Munich striker won the Bundesliga three times, the DFB Cup twice and the UEFA Champions League in 2013.
Gomez, who also played for VfB Stuttgart, Fiorentina and Besiktas, was top scorer in the Bundesliga (2011), twice in the DFB Pokal, in the Coppa Italia in 2015 and in the Super Lig the following year.
At international level, Gomez appeared as part of the German national team in three UEFA European Championships and two FIFA World Cups.
The Rietlingen-born striker made his international debut in 2007 and helped the German national team to a runner-up finish in the 2008 match between Austria and Switzerland, third place in the 2012 match between Poland and Ukraine, and was top scorer at the European Championship. It also shined.
Despite his success as a striker, Gomez admitted to Kicker that he grew up wanting to be like Nigerian midfielder Okocha.
Gomez was just eight years old when Okocha scored perhaps the Bundesliga’s best-ever goal in 1993, but the 38-year-old revealed he fell in love with the Super Eagles legend’s style of play.
“My idol growing up was Jay-Jay Okocha. The way he handled the ball fascinated me. He was like an artist,” Gomez said.
Despite sharing a dressing room with some of the best players of his generation at some of Europe’s biggest clubs, Gomez declares David Alaba to be the best teammate he has ever had. was.
The retired striker said of Alaba: From his early years he brought a lot to the table, and since then he has achieved extraordinary growth. To me he has no weaknesses. He has mastered the entire program. ”
Gomez also weighed in on the debate about who is considered the greatest scorer of all time.
The former Germany international is particularly fond of Brazil’s great trio, but there is no doubt that World Cup-winning Argentina icon Messi is the best of them all.
“It’s definitely Lionel Messi,” declares Gomez.
“Even if I have always been a fan of Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and especially Romario. But Messi has already reached his level,” he concluded.
