BERLIN: Football legend Franz Beckenbauer has hailed rising star Mario Goetze as Germany’s equivalent of Argentina’s Lionel Messi ahead of the Germans friendly against South American giants Brazil on Wednesday.
Goetze was lavished with praise over the weekend here after playing a commanding role in Borussia Dortmund’s impressive 3-1 win over Hamburg on Friday as they opened their defence of the Bundesliga title.
Having set up team-mate Kevin Grosskreutz for the first goal, Goetze added the second with a deft chip and caused the Hamburg defence constant problems.
He is in the Germany squad to face Brazil in a friendly and arrived at the team hotel in Stuttgart on Sunday as the hot topic here.
The sport section Bild carried the eye-catching headline ‘Goetzlich’ (a play on words meaning ‘Divine’ in German) and Beckenbauer raved about the prodigal talent in his column in the German daily newspaper.
“It is not possible to stop Mario Goetze,” enthused Beckenbauer, who captained and coached the then West Germany to World Cup titles in 1974 and 1990 respectively.
“There is no one playing better than him.
“He runs through opponents as though they aren’t there.
“He has the same assets as Lionel Messi in terms of his technique and understanding of the game.
“He is an instinctive footballer – just like Messi.”
Goetze, who won the first of his six caps against Sweden in a friendly last November, was taking the praise in his stride.
Like Messi, Goetze made his international debut at the age of 18.
“Of course, it is a great honour to get such praise,” said the teenager who only turned 19 in June.
“But the (Dortmund) team’s performance is what matters, not my own.” But Beckenbauer is not the only senior figure in German football impressed with Goetze.
“An outstanding performance” was how national coach Joachim Loew described what he saw, while team manager Oliver Bierhoff lauded Goetze’s “absolutely exceptional talent”.
Goetze admits his life has changed substantially over the last 12 months. “It is a special attraction for any player to play against Messi,” said Goetze. (Agencies)