Mario Gomez has said he is relaxed about his chances of making Germany’s World Cup squad after scoring both goals in Stuttgart’s 2-0 win over Hoffenheim.
Gomez, 32, is competing for a place with Bayern Munich attacker Sandro Wagner, with both having struck eight times since the winter break.
Gomez, who has won 73 caps to Wagner’s eight, is now the Bundesliga’s 12th-highest scorer of all time and said he was calm ahead of the announcement of Joachim Low’s preliminary squad on May 15.
“I’ll wait and see,” he told reporters. “I hope I will be included when the squad’s announced. But I am relaxed — if I am not there, I am not there.”
Gomez has scored 163 goals in 297 German top-flight matches for Stuttgart, Bayern and Wolfsburg.
He returned to hometown club Stuttgart in January and has since helped them amass 31 points, more than any other team bar champions Bayern.
Stuttgart still have a chance of qualifying for Europa League should they beat Bayern at the Allianz Arena on the last day and other results go their way.
“Our squad has character,” Gomez said. “Other teams might have more talent. We are not eighth because we should be there for sporting reasons, but because we have shown a good mentality.”
Stephan Uersfeld is the Germany correspondent for ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @uersfeld.
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