Mario Gomez gave a resounding answer when questioned on what he would consider a success at the UEFA European Football Championship™ 2008. “The title. I have nothing further to say”. The 22-year-old proved his determination, his urge when near goal, and his single-mindedness on the road to greatness during the German national team’s 4-1 (1-0) victory over Switzerland in Basle on March 26, in a friendly prior to the UEFA EURO 2008™. The VfB Stuttgart player has established himself among the elite of German football professionals within a year. The striker, who scored his sixth and seventh goals in his ninth international match at St. Jakobs Park Stadium to receive top marks all round, is considered the only player not to feature in the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ to be seeded for the UEFA European Football Championship™ (June 7-29). “It was a successful evening”, Gomez said pleasingly. He had earned his first cap, and scored a goal, also against Switzerland, at Duesseldorf in February 2007.

Confident and calm he has the UEFA EURO final in Vienna on June 29 in his sights, with Germany’s group stage opponents being Poland, Croatia and Austria. “Our team have the potential”, he said. But he has no qualms when considering his chance of being part a winning team: “Currently everything is going very well. But nobody knows what it will be in two months time”. In addition, the first choice for his attacking role would be Miroslav Klose, Gomez emphasised. While Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke), with whom he used to play in Stuttgart, and World Cup regular player Lukas Podolski (Bayern Munich), would be remain on a par with him.

That’s the man whom they like to call “Super Mario”, due to his fantastic goal tally. But he is always extremely professional and ambitious, but at the same time very realistic and team-oriented. After a strong performance by Gomez during a 4-1 win in Rostock, Stuttgart coach Armin Veh had revealed on the previous Sunday that the striker would leave Stuttgart by 2009 at the latest, despite a contract running until 2012: “I don’t have any illusions. In my opinion, Mario will not complete his contract with us. He will move to a big club in Europe”. The son of a Spanish father and a Swabian mother reacted with displeasure at this comment before the international match in Basle. The topic was of no immediate interest for him.

Last year he rejected an offer by Juventus Turin which allegedly would have earned him 20 million Euros in four years. “Of course I have to earn money, but I don’t need to do it in one hit”, he said. He underlined that he would be proud to remain with Stuttgart. For after winning the championship last year, to which his goals contributed greatly, and his surprising election as Germany’s “Footballer of the Year”, he entered a crisis. He is of the opinion that his ability to control this low furthered his progress. The “half Spaniard” once agreed that his dream was to play for his favourite club, FC Barcelona.

However, this wish has never seemed feasible. But a move does remain a topic: After his return to Germany from Switzerland, news in the Spanish paper “Marca” that Gomez was on a list of much wanted players by Real Madrid, created some confusion in Stuttgart.

The goal tally of the fast and robust striker is fantastic. “Mario has an amazing goal average. Many eyes will focus on him during the European Championship”, said Oliver Bierhoff, the German team manager. In 2008, up till March 26, he scored 16 goals in 11 matches; eight in seven Bundesliga games, three in international matches against EURO co-hosts Austria and Switzerland, in the Cup matches a hat trick against Werder Bremen’s amateurs, and two against Jena when Stuttgart was eliminated. In just 19 Bundesliga matches he scored a total of 15 goals. All this suggests a regular place in the UEFA European Football Championship™ team. National coach Loew particularly praised his “callousness in front of the goal”. In addition, Gomez laid on the pass for Klose to make it 1-0, and provided Michael Ballack with an excellent shooting position.

The one aspect which could affect a regular UEFA European Football Championship™ place for Gomez is that his recent scoring has come despite a lack of pre-match training. Since an injury last year, he has been suffering from muscle problems. Prior to the match against Rostock on Saturday he was capable of just 20 minutes preparation during the entire week – and scored one goal, gave two passes and scored an own goal.

Loew has taken a further step towards nominating the 23 player UEFA European Football Championship™ squad. “We still had a few open questions, for some of which we found the answers,” he said. The 16 players who played in Basle have a good chance to be on the list when Loew will announce the full German Football Association, DFB, squad on top of Germany’s highest mountain, the Zugspitze, on May 17.

These players are goalkeeper Jens Lehmann (Arsenal London), defenders Marcell Jansen, Philipp Lahm (both Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Bremen), Heiko Westermann (Schalke) and Arne Friedrich (Berlin), midfield players Michael Ballack (Chelsea London), Clemens Fritz (Bremen), Thomas Hitzlsperger (Stuttgart), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Simon Rolfes (Leverkusen) and Piotr Trochowski (Hamburg), and strikers Mario Gomez (Stuttgart), Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski (both Bayern Munich) and Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke).

Bernd Schneider (Leverkusen) is also considered a certain UEFA European Football Championship™ candidate if the midfielder returns to full fitness after failing to make the grade for the match in Basle. Loew also has high hopes for Torsten Frings (Bremen), who needs match practice after a long injury break. And Loew wants to keep a place open for Christoph Metzelder (Real Madrid), who had to undergo another foot operation.

Besides Jens Lehmann, goalkeepers Timo Hildebrand (Valencia) and Robert Enke (Hannover) were in the squad against Switzerland. Rene Adler (Leverkusen) instead of Enke is not excluded, but not keenly supported by the DFB coaching staff. In attack, there will be a decision between experienced Oliver Neuville (Moenchengladbach) and Stefan Kiessling (Leverkusen). In midfield, Loew is hoping for an improved performance by Tim Borowski with Werder Bremen, with an alternative being Stuttgart’s Sami Khedira. Then the 23 player squad for the UEFA EURO 2008™ would be complete.