15 years ago, Marcel Goc was almost something of an exotic figure: at the age of 17, he was already playing for the national team and took part in the Olympic qualification and the World Cup in 2001. “Times have changed,” says the now 32-year-old today. “There used to be a handful of young players in the national team, today there are only a handful of older ones. This is actually a trend: the core of the teams is getting younger. Across all leagues and in the national teams.” And so the striker is now one of the experienced leaders in the German team. Someone who should lead the young actors.
“You could see that he brings calm and routine to the team,” says national coach Marco Sturm. The return campaign came as quite a surprise: Goc last wore the national jersey in 2013 and only played six games last season. “You could already tell that he still had potential for improvement,” says Sturm about the returnee. “It was a difficult year for me with the two injuries,” says the man from Mannheim himself. “It takes a toll on you and also takes a lot of mental strength. But now I’m fully operational again.”
Goc could be competing in his eighth World Cup in May and when you hear him talk like that, you can tell he already has his sights set on Russia. “The two games in the Czech Republic showed us our mistakes. We have to work on that and continue to grow together as a team until the World Cup.” And then probably with him as captain and leader of the team.