Top Facts about Mario Gomez, the Former German Striker

Gomez was regarded as one of the top attackers in the world during his time. Gomez was noted for his ability to shoot with both feet and was regarded as an aerial threat throughout his career.

His ability to predict crosses and passes, as well as position himself to shoot, were also regarded as some of his strongest qualities.

"A great finisher who is often in the right place to finish off moves," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said of him. Furthermore, defenders were frequently troubled by Gomez's body balance and ability to hold up the ball.

His ability to emerge "at the right place at the right time" was one of Bayern's most lethal offensive weapons during his time there, as Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben could regularly escape defenders and produce a cross for Gomez. Despite his goal-scoring prowess, the footballer was frequently criticized for having limited skills and a poor work ethic.

He once said: “As a striker, your job is mostly to forget. When you have someone like Vidic marking you, and it's misery for 89 minutes, all you have to do is forget everything. Forget the 89 minutes. Because in the 90th minute, you might finally get your chance. I have been pretty good at this in my career.”

Listing All the Top Facts about Mario Gomez

These short and quick facts will help you form an initial image of him in your mind.

Quick Facts

• Full Name:

   Mario Gomez Garcia

• Nicknames:

   Super Mario, Torero

• Date of Birth:

   10 July 1985

• Place of Birth:

   Riedlingen, West Germany

• Age:

   36

• Nationality:

   German

• Height:

   1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)

• Weight:

   89 kg

• Marital Status:

   Married

• Wife: 

  Carina Wanzung

• Net Worth:

   Over $25 Million

• Position:

   Striker

• Former Team:

   VfB Stuttgart

• Jersey Number:

   Retired

Mario Gomez Upbringing Years and Family Roots

Mario Gomez Garcia was born in Riedlingen, Germany, on July 10, 1985. He is of German-Spanish ancestry, having been born to Christel Roth (a German) and Jose "Pepe" Gomez Garcia (a Spanish from Albunan, Granada). As a result, Mario possesses dual citizenship and commits his allegiance to Germany.

He grew up in adjacent Unlingen, an Upper Swabian village in Baden-Wurttemberg, around 100 kilometers south of Stuttgart and 175 kilometers west of Munich.

The great forward once recounted a story about his first football encounter. In his own words:

“I WAS FOUR YEARS OLD AND I DIDN’T REALLY KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING. ALL I KNEW WAS THAT I HAD THE BALL AT MY FEET AND I WANTED TO SCORE A GOAL.

SO I STARTED DRIBBLING UP THE FIELD AND ALL MY TEAMMATES BEGAN TO YELL MY NAME; “MARIO! MARIO! MARIO! I TOOK THE BALL FURTHER UP THE FIELD.

THEY KEPT YELLING“MARIOOOOOOOOOO!”…I ASKED MYSELF,…WHAT’S WRONG WITH THEM? WHY DO THEY WANT ME TO PASS? NONE OF THE DEFENDERS WANTED TO TAKE ME ON. I HAD A CLEAR PATH TO THE GOAL.

AT SOME POINT, MY PARENTS STARTED YELLING MY NAME “MARIO!… YOU’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY! MARIO, NOOOOO!” I DIDN’T UNDERSTAND THAT THERE WAS A RIGHT WAY TO GO.

I JUST SAW A GOAL, AND I WANTED TO KICK THE BALL INTO IT. UNFORTUNATELY, I SCORED MY OWN GOAL.”

Everyone wanted to be on Mario's squad after learning how to score goals properly because he was the one who always won, one of the Top Facts about Mario Gomez.

Mario would put his backpack in the corner and call his mother every day when he got home from school.

“MOM, I’LL BE OUT TO PLAY FOOTBALL.” “WAIT, WAIT, WAIT”, she’d say, “YOU NEED TO EAT SOMETHING. YOU NEED TO FINISH YOUR HOMEWORK FIRST.”

Christel Roth would close the back door after giving her son permission, forcing Mario to remain in the garden. Usually, his younger cousin would accompany him.

The kid would kick the ball hundreds of times with his left foot and then with his right foot in the garden.

Being able to play with both feet has always been a tool for him, even since he was a child.

His parents had to listen to the noise of the ball hitting the garage door from inside the home.

Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, They never urged him to quit, and they never put any pressure on him to pursue a career in football.

Mario's parents have only witnessed their son's joy as a result of the football.

As a consequence, anytime a flowerpot or glass was shattered, his father would step outside with a disappointed expression on his face. Jose Gomez Garcia's reaction would be:

“C’MON, MARIO, WHAT ARE YOU AIMING THERE FOR? YOU CAN SHOOT BETTER THAN THAT.”

The little lad's father, who also enjoys football, would never take the ball away from him.

He didn't give a damn about the plants or the shattered glass, and he'd even come out and shoot around with his son on occasion unless it was 6 p.m. on a Sunday.

Then there was only one place for him to be: in front of the TV, watching the weekly football highlights show.

Mario Gomez disliked watching football on television as a kid. He found football on TV to be quite boring, one of the interesting 

Top Facts about Mario Gomez.

“WHY SIT IN FRONT OF THE SCREEN, WHEN YOU COULD GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY THE GAME FOR REAL?

PAPI, LET’S GO OUTSIDE! LET’S PLAY!”, he would tell his dad when they started to watch TV.

Finding his Idol

Mario had enough of it one evening when he was about seven or eight years old.

Instead of encouraging his father to join him in his favorite garden, Mario sat next to him in front of the television. His father told him:

“I WANT YOU TO SEE THIS, MARIO. JUST WATCH. NOOOOO! I WON'T STAY LONG BECAUSE IT’S BORING.”

The football passionate kid answered his father's request while still seated and watching television, as his father had asked. His father pointed to the television once more:

“LOOK! THERE! RIGHT NOW!”

When Mario looked up, he noticed a player from Eintracht Frankfurt on the television.

This player dribbled the ball around the goalkeeper of the opposing team, then a defender, and then another defender, toying with them until he effortlessly chipped it into the goal. “Woahhhhhh,” Mario said. “What did he just do?”.

“See?” Mario’s father, Jose said. “That’s

. And there’s no one else like him.” Mario Gomez dreamed of playing like Jay-Jay Okocha, his first idol, from that moment forward, one of the Top Facts about Mario Gomez.

Mario continued to watch the highlights with his father, Jose, every Sunday after seeing Jay-Jay Okocha's dribble and goal.

It wasn't long before he began watching matches beside him. In his own words:

“WE’D MOSTLY WATCH SPAIN’S LA LIGA IN OUR HOUSE, AND THERE WAS NO MATCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE MATCH EL CLASICO.

WHENEVER REAL MADRID AND BARCELONA FACED OFF, ALL MY UNCLES AND COUSINS WOULD COME TO OUR HOME.

RAUL JERSEYS FILLED OUR LIVING ROOM, AS WELL AS THE SOUNDS OF SCREAMING AND CHANTING FOR 90 MINUTES STRAIGHT.”

His entire family was a die-hard Real Madrid supporter, but no one could tell Mario what to do when it came to football.

As a result, he chose to support Barcelona, another 

Top Fact about Mario Gomez

. It was partly to stand out, but it was also because he enjoyed watching Brazilian stars such as Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, and his all-time favorite,

.

His attraction to Romario stemmed from the fact that his name sounded similar to his own, another one of the Top Facts about Mario Gomez. When he was little, he wore a Brazilian jersey to show his support for Brazilian players and

.

The wonder kid desire to pursue a career in football was sparked by Jay-Jay Okocha's dribble masterpiece and goal against Oliver Kahn.

Despite idolizing Okocha, Mario Gomez had to pick a player who mirrored his on-field garden football attitude to admire. He says:

“I WANTED TO BE ROMARIO. BUT AS I GOT OLDER, I REALISED THAT THE TYPE OF STRIKER THAT I WANTED TO BE WASN’T EXACTLY THE TYPE OF STRIKER THAT I COULD BE.

I WAS BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN ALL THE BOYS I HAD PLAYED WITH, SO I BECAME MORE OF A TRUE NUMBER NINE ON THE PITCH.

SOME BOYS HAD A TALENT FOR DRIBBLING, BUT I HAD A TALENT FOR SCORING.

WHETHER IT WAS WITH MY LEFT FOOT, MY RIGHT FOOT, OR MY HEAD, IT’S JUST WHAT I WAS GOOD AT. BUT UNLIKE OTHER BOYS, I NEVER ACTUALLY THOUGHT I COULD PLAY PROFESSIONALLY.

IT JUST SORT OF … HAPPENED. STEP BY STEP. I GOT BETTER AND PLAYED FOR THE NEXT BEST TEAM, THEN THE NEXT ONE, THEN THE NEXT ONE…”

Mario Gomez Career Buildout and Path to Prominence

When Mario Gomez was approximately 13 years old,

approached him and his father, asking if Mario would join the club.

Going to a top academy would undoubtedly be the ambition of many young footballers.

He, unfortunately, denied the big club's invitation since he preferred to stay close to home with his friends and family.

The youngster simply didn't feel it was the proper time to depart. Another reason he wanted to stay was that he wanted to finish his education in his hometown.

After Mario's local team lost 7–0 to Stuttgart a few years later, the Stuttgart manager approached him again, this time with a smile on his face, and said:

“EVEN NOW, WE CAN’T CONVINCE YOU TO COME?”

He eventually joined Stuttgart, a more powerful club that offered him more options.

The soon to be one of the best players was ready to move on to the next level this time. Mario had a little more free time while he was there. 

He had the opportunity to live in his own flat and learn to care for himself—not just as a footballer, but as a young, happy man.

Mario quickly discovered what it meant to be a man on the field, one of the Top Facts about Mario Gomez.

Following his success with the youth team, he was promoted to Stuttgart's second team, and then to the senior team.

, Mario's coach, was a tough guy who insisted on Mario doing a lot of training and running.

Giovanni approached Mario one day and informed him that he would be playing in their Champions League encounter against Chelsea.

At the time, the soccer player was only 18 years old. He got to share the pitch with Frank Lampard for ten minutes.

“Unbelievable!” he said to himself while playing with the legend. I’m not a kid anymore…” said Mario.

Mario Gomez Ascend to Prominence

Mario still believed he had a long way to go even after facing

. He was well aware that there is a lot that goes into producing a striker.

Giovanni, Mario's coach, summoned Mario to his office after practice one fateful day. The young footballer had no idea why he was being called. Giovanni said:

“LISTEN, MARIO, I’VE BEEN WATCHING YOU FOR A FEW WEEKS NOW AND I’M REALLY IMPRESSED, BUT I THINK WE CAN WORK ON SOME THINGS.

AND IF WE CAN FIX THOSE OTHER THINGS, THEN YOU’LL BE THE NEXT STRIKER FOR THE GERMAN NATIONAL TEAM.”

And from then on, Mario would stay late after each training session with Giovanni and a couple of the other younger players solely to work on the things they had discussed.

The Stuttgart striker felt like a professional footballer while he was with Giovanni. Sadly, the energetic coach only stayed in Stuttgart for a few months, but he left an indelible effect on Mario, one of the Top Facts about Mario Gomez. 

Mario, and his club, hit their stride in the latter weeks of that season and into the following.

He was the captain of his squad that won the Bundesliga title. Stuttgart won the Bundesliga, and Mario, as Giovanni had predicted, was called up to the

.

And then came the day when he became famous. The German received a phone call on a lovely day, weeks after winning the Bundesliga. In his own words:

“I WAS DRIVING IN MY CAR AND A NUMBER I DIDN’T RECOGNISE SHOWED UP ON MY MOBILE PHONE. SO I PULLED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND ANSWERED.

HELLO, MARIO, THE VOICE SAID. “I’M A REPORTER FOR KICKER MAGAZINE, AND I WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT YOU’VE BEEN VOTED THE 2007 GERMAN FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR.”

Bayern Munich was enticed by his prestigious footballer of the year title, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Mario Gomez Personal & Love Life

There is a glamorous wag behind every successful German footballer. Silvia Meichel was Mario's childhood love when he was 17 years old.

She aided him in defining himself as a young football player. Mario's love, Silvia, made him feel comfortable and not alone in his quest for stardom. T

The worst happened as their supporters were waiting for them to marry.

On October 2, 2012, Mario Gomez abruptly ended his nine-year childhood love with Silvia Meichel.

Gomez exposed another woman two months later, one of the

Top Facts about Mario Gomez

. In December 2012, he began dating German model Carina Wanzung.

On July 22, 2016, Mario Gomez and his partner Carina Wanzung got married and became husband and wife.

Carina Wanzung took a minimalist approach to her wedding gown, opting for a basic white slip-type maxi dress with a tulle skirt.

Carina gets a low ranking when compared to Mario's Ex, according to WhoDatedWho.

Onto his personal life facts, His nickname, Torero, refers to his other nationality, which translates to "bullfighter." When he's not upsetting goalkeepers, he likes to chill with a rousing game of tennis.

The former striker adores the Audi Q7, a $60,000 automobile. Gomez believes that LGBT players should come out and "play as if they had been released."

In football, he also wants a "radical rethinking" of homosexuality, another one of the Top Facts about Mario Gomez.

This sparked outrage among supporters. Mario Gomez, like many other soccer stars, has acted as a model.

He has modeled for magazines such as 'GQ.' Arsene Wenger once said about Mario Gomez:

“MARIO IS A STRONG BUSINESS FINISHER. HE HAS LONG BEEN A VERSATILE STRIKER THANKS TO HIS ABILITY TO USE BOTH LEGS AND BOTH FEET, AND HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN ATTRACTED BY THE GREAT TEACHERS OF EUROPE.”

Mario Gomez is also one of the few footballers who has his own webpage (www.mario-gomez.de). He also maintains a blog where he updates match news and opinions.

Mario Gomez Family

Mario Gomez is the son of a farmer. Pepe Gomez and Torcuata Garcia, his paternal grandparents, immigrated to Germany in 1966 from Albunan, a little village north of Granada with just over 500 residents, in search of a better life, one of the Top Facts about Mario Gomez.

They found a better life in the village of Riedlingen, Baden Wurttemberg, in southwest Germany. Both couples began their careers in a nursery.

With them was his son Pepe, Mario's father, who, while being Spanish, spent almost his entire childhood in Germany. He met his German wife, Cristel Roth, there, and they had Mario.

The great German has spent summers at Albunan, Spain since he was a toddler, where his grandparents had returned after retiring.

Jose and Torcuata now live in Albunan, a little village in Granada with 450 residents near the Mediterranean Sea on the northern edge of the Sierra Nevada Natural Park.

Every summer, their grandson (Mario Gomez) pays them a visit to get and give them a kiss.

Despite the fact that they are Spanish, they support their Grandson's favorite country (Germany).

Mario recently purchased a farm called 'Villa Mario' for his parents. He also built a house for her parents and another for his sister.

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