Sunday, August 1, 2010

Mario Gomez admitted his relief at finally ending a 14-month goal drought after running riot in Germany’s 7-2 thumping of the UAE in Dubai.

The striker’s four-goal haul on Tuesday night brought to an end almost 14 hours of firing blanks for the national side. And it also relieved the pressure that had been mounting on the 23-year-old since his last goal for his country, which he netted against Switzerland way back in March of last year.

Gomez is keen to show he can lead the line, especially with the 2010 World Cup on the horizon.

“A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” said Gomez, who left Stuttgart for a reported German record of $43 million last week to join Bayern Munich.

“This was not a tough opponent but I am just happy that the curse is gone.”

Heiko Westermann had set the Germans on their way in the 29th minute before Gomez scored his first six minutes later - an easy tap-in into an empty net.

Piotr Trochowski added a third, before Gomez then added a fourth just before half-time.

He scored again minutes after the restart and netted his tenth goal in 25 matches for Germany from a tight angle in the last minute of the match.
Gomez, who had failed to score in Germany’s run to the Euro 2008 final, as well as against ‘weaker’ teams like Wales and Liechtenstein in World Cup qualifiers, won praise from his coach.

“This Asian tour was worth it,” said coach Joachim Low. “Our ’keeper Manuel Neuer played great, Gomez scored again. I’m happy.”  

But UAE coach Dominique Bathenay will not have been so pleased after the drubbing at Al Nasr’s Maktoum Stadium.

Even though his side managed to breach the German backline twice, with goals from Ismail Salem and Nawaf Mubarak, confidence will have been knocked ahead of their last two qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, against South Korea on Saturday and Iran on Wednesday.