Mario Götze: Unquenched and still flickering

The grand affair looked set to stay stalemate after the players had toiled for close to two hours in the World Cup final at the Maracana Stadium, Rio De Janeiro in 2014. With 75,000 fans from either side on tenterhooks, Joachim Loew turned to his dugout and summoned a 22-year-old and prepped him up to speed,

"Ok, show the world you're better than Messi and can decide the world cup."

Mario Götze must have smiled or nodded but it doesn't matter in what form the immediate acknowledgment came because Loew would find out inside 20 minutes that the youngster was determined to oblige. Much to the absolute despair and heartbreak of the travelling Argentinians, their net was forced into a cuddle with the Brazuca as the little whiz thrust into the edge of the six-yard box, latched on to a cross from another substitute, Schurrle, chested it down to his left foot with which he dinked it over the head of Sergio Romero who couldn't get a whiff of the ball no matter how big he tried to make himself.

An instant classic, an instant hero. The first substitute to score in the final of a World Cup; Mario Götze was the name on everyone's lips as the world put the flags out and made a toast to the passing of the grand spectacle.

At 22 years old, the world couldn't be a lot more altruistic to Götze, one would think. But all was not well then and quite distressingly, all is not well now either.

Mario Götze, here to stay!

The merit of the meteoric rise to prominence of Borussia Dortmund under the craftsmanship of a certain Jurgen Klopp should fairly be (at least) partly accredited to the young blood that boiled the ranks from among Germany's finest.

Klopp with a young Götze

It was the year of 2009 when Klopp introduced a 17-year-old teenager to 'The Yellow Wall'. Watching Götze slalom past defenders with the grace of a gazelle, the Germans bragged to the world, 'This will continue and we're in for world domination.'

Two years later, Götze was perhaps excitedly overwhelmed when Franz Beckenbauer had this to say about him: "There is no-one playing better than him. He runs through opponents as though they aren't there. He is an instinctive footballer, just like Messi."

Just like Messi.

Götze said Yessir in a grand reinstatement of faith as he leaped and lobbed a Thomas Muller cross into Austria's netting and the world gasped in awe. The same year, Dortmund won their 2nd consecutive Bundesliga title and were runners-up at the 2012 UEFA Champions League. Bayern were finally bestowed with a nemesis so brawny and fiery that Dortmund's usurping threatened to end their very dominance.

Well, that was so until Bayern put their pedigree on the billboards and their credit card to work and decided to subject Dortmund to a pounding of sorts which even if tagged larceny would come short of describing the pain of their plight.

Bayern raided Westfalonstadion and would eventually sign the likes of Lewandowski, Hummels and Götze, three of their most prolific talents at the time. Götze had become the pintle around which the stalwarts around him burgeoned. So when Bayern triggered his release clause of €37m, Beckenbauer reiterated his faith in the youngster's ability by calling him 'Germany’s best attacking player'.

Joachim Loew called him a 'wunderkind' and Matthias Sammer dubbed him 'one of the greatest talents we have ever had.' But those words would seem lacking when pitted with the highest praise Götze's young legs gained him when Felix Magath famously called him, 'a once in a century' talent.

Well, the purple prose would turn out to be tribulation as Götze's shoulders struggled to bear the weight of all the generous puffery. In the grand scheme of things, Götze was still a precious asset to wherever he belonged but had he become the next Messi? Had he gone on to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he was indeed a once in a century talent? The answer, unfortunately, is no and he had just become a case of what coulda been.

The crack of ambition

When Der FCB came knocking summer after summer and presented a dream of European conquest and a wealth of gold, Klopp found it difficult to make his boys stay at home. The onslaught was on and the Dortmund faithful looked at Bayern as a sugar daddy out to lure gold diggers to his mansion.

Götze up against Dortmund in Bayern's colours

Loyalty, which is sadly thin on the footballing grounds these days, is a quality the fans admire outright. That is precisely the reason why when Bayern wanted Marco Reus by hook, line or sinker, the winger said he is not leaving home. But his compadres didn't share his intentions. So when Götze's departure was announced right before Dortmund took on Real Madrid in a Champion's League semi final, a host of fans turned up with the Götze names on their back crossed out or taped. To them, Götze had lived up to his name which means 'false god or idol.'

The move was ill-advised and Götze would be brutishly flogged every time he wasn't a spiffing presence at the Allianz Arena. A then big-money move had only supplemented the weight of expectations and nothing other than extraordinary was suddenly up to par.

At Bayern, his showings, while being good, were not something someone else in the squad couldn't replicate. When Lewandowski started breaking goal scoring records, the Bavarians looked to Götze and asked him 'Where are yours?'

Mario Götze during a press conference at Bayern

Götze was gradually becoming a perennially flustered figure and in his clueless eyes was an unwelcome lack of resolve and self-doubt. Injuries would further taint his time at the Allianz Arena as he started a meagre 14 times in his last season at Bayern.

That Götze ended his stint at Bayern with three Bundesliga titles, two German Super Cups and one UEFA Super Cup and was still criticised as having been a wrong choice, speaks volumes of the expectations he had to shoulder.

The Return home and the bathos that followed

Götze's switch back to Borussia Dortmund felt timely and it looked life was coming to a full circle, proffering him a chance to set things right. He was finally determined to win back the faith of the Yellow Wall and the world would wait for an eventual resurrection.

But in the background a problem much more pressing was brewing. Even though Götze was putting in extra hours in training and on-boarding diet plans to stay in shape, he was eventually nicknamed Pummelfee (chubby fairy). A joke made in jest would later prove to have connotations gravely unsolicited as in the February of 2017, Götze got diagnosed with myopathy, a rare metabolic disorder which causes weight gain and fatigue.

All the pettifogging voices in and around Götze's heads were now yielding sympathy as his critics were answered in the most gut-wrenching manner. Was this the last chapter in a Million Dollar Babyesque tragedy? Was Götze going to end as the sweetest lie disguised as a promise?

Raising hope

The 25-year-old has had to be on the brunt of it all in his short career. He himself has expressed that the burden of expectations proved to be a bit too much when he said Loew should have ideally remained silent about his minimalist motivational talk ahead of bringing Götze on in the World Cup final.

Götze was gauged as greedy by his fans when he was priced away from Dortmund. He was adjudged unfit and unmotivated when he grew stocky albeit to a then undiagnosed metabolic disorder. Franz Beckenbauer who was lavish with his praise later asked Gotze to 'grow up'.

It could be argued that it was not an outright drop to the pits but a fall from grace is a fall indeed and in this medical condition, Götze has now encountered the sharpest thorn to have spiked his skin. All hope seemed to dwindle and the ray of hope flickered as if to bid goodbye.

But now Dortmund have laid those woes to rest and announced that Götze is indeed all ready to be back and strut his boots next season. Thomas Tuchel, former boss at Westfalonstadion had this to say about Götze's recovery,'

"We need peace, calm and tranquility for Mario. He needs rest, understanding, and support - all of which he will get here."

"It takes time for the best treatment. Then he will be an important part of the team again."

In his words ring hope, of a much warmer and greeting kind, reassuringly different to the imposing and demanding kind Götze has had the misfortune of needing to get used to.

The multi-storeyed sand castles may fall now. Fantasies of a one-man-army conquering the world have now gone out like light and they have taken a good amount of pressure away with them. Götze's medical condition was Germany's wake-up call to reality.

Götze understands that his career will be different than when he was 21 years old and out to win the world. But with his shoulders freer than they have ever been and the world waving wind into his sails, the next time Mario Götze steps out onto Signal Iduna Park, the hair on the back his neck will stand up and he will feel humbled and overjoyed for the opportunity like he has never before. And that is the natural habitat where the champion in him will thrive. Hopefully.