Mario Gómez

[6][7] On 9 March 2004, Gómez played ten minutes for Stuttgart in the Champions League first knock-out round against Chelsea[8] and made his debut in the Bundesliga on 8 May, coming on for Imre Szabics in a 2–1 loss to Hamburger SV.

In that match, Stuttgart defeated VfL Bochum (3–2) and went two points clear heading into the Bundesliga's final weekend, where they won at home against Energie Cottbus, thus becoming German champions.

Reliable"), as seen in his second of three goals against Bundesliga rival Werder Bremen (final score 6–3), where he managed to net in a virtually unreachable pass by teammate Yıldıray Baştürk.

Gómez also netted eight times in the Champions League[27] and finished second in the season's top scorers, tied with Samuel Eto'o,[29] although Bayern was eliminated in the round of 16 by Inter Milan.

[32] On 10 September, Gómez scored four goals as Bayern beat SC Freiburg 7–0, sealing four straight wins for the Bavarians and a return to the top of the Bundesliga table.

[39] In the quarter-finals, Bayern faced French Ligue 1 side Olympique de Marseille; in the first leg on 28 March,[40] Gómez fired in his 11th Champions League goal of the campaign in a 2–0 win for the Bavarians.

[51] Gómez returned to action on 20 November 2012 in the club's 1–1 draw with Valencia in the group stage of the Champions League, coming on as a 79th minute substitute for winger Franck Ribéry.

[54] Following the winter break, Gómez pushed for a first-team berth, scoring two goals and setting up another as Bayern cruised past Werder Bremen 6–1 on 23 February 2013.

[55] The striker was a used substitute against Eintracht Frankfurt on 6 April, as a lone Bastian Schweinsteiger strike confirmed an 11th successive victory and a 23rd national title for the club.

[56] On 16 April, in the DFB-Pokal semi-final against VfL Wolfsburg, Gómez scored a six-minute hat-trick after being substituted on in the 77th minute, rounding off a comfortable 6–1 victory and securing a spot in the final against southern rivals and former club Stuttgart.

[58] Gómez led the line in the absence of Mario Mandžukić in the semi-finals of the Champions League on 23 April, poking home Bayern's second goal in their 4–0 first-leg defeat of Barcelona.

He made an appearance as a late substitute in Bayern's 2–1 Champions League final victory over German rivals Borussia Dortmund on 25 May at Wembley Stadium in London.

[63] On 6 June 2013, Gómez's consultant Uli Ferber announced that it "is quite clear that he will separate from Bayern" as he had fallen behind Mario Mandžukić in the pecking order for starting striker.

[69] On 13 March, Gómez scored his first European goal for Fiorentina in a 1–1 draw against Juventus in the first leg of a UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie.

[70] Gómez damaged the ligaments in his left knee on 23 March in a 1–0 win at Napoli and was later ruled out for the remainder of the season by Fiorentina manager Vincenzo Montella.

[77] Gómez officially signed for the club along with 4 other new players, including his compatriot Andreas Beck, at a press conference held on 7 August 2015.

[82] On 21 September 2015, during the week 5 game against Gençlerbirliği, Gómez reportedly narrowly escaped a red card for an alleged deliberate elbow on Icelandic midfielder Ólafur Ingi Skúlason during the 55th minute.

[90] On 10 December 2015, Gómez scored Beşiktaş' only goal against Sporting in the Europa League Group Stage as the game ended 3–1 for the Portuguese side.

[133] On 28 June 2020, Stuttgart announced that Gómez had ended his professional career, after scoring in his final match for the club and helping them secure promotion back to the Bundesliga.

[135] Gómez gained his second cap for Germany by coming on as a substitute for Kevin Kurányi in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier against San Marino.

[136] After Gómez impressed in pre-tournament friendlies, Germany head coach Joachim Löw called him up to the German squad for Euro 2008.

Unfortunately, Gómez was not able to reproduce his club form and missed several chances, including one in the last group match against Austria, a performance for which he was criticized by the German media and many fans of the national team.

Germany eventually won courtesy of a Michael Ballack free-kick to seal a place in the knockout stages, but Löw dropped Gómez to the bench and reverted to the Podolski–Klose partnership.

[138] Gómez was an unused substitute in the quarter-final and semi-final and later came off the bench in the final of Euro 2008 for Klose, but could not prevent Germany from losing 1–0 to Spain on 29 June.

[142] Despite being second choice, behind Miroslav Klose, for centre-forward during Germany's qualification for Euro 2012, Gómez played regularly and contributed goals against every opponent of that campaign: Kazakhstan, Austria, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Belgium.

[143] Prior to Euro 2012, Gómez captained Germany for the first time in a 3–3 draw against Ukraine in the first match at the renovated Olympic Stadion of Kyiv.

[148] After missing the majority of the 2013–14 season with a knee injury, Gómez was not included in Joachim Löw's squad for the 2014 World Cup which Germany went on to win.

[150] His performance in the first half of the 2015–16 Süper Lig led Gómez to be recalled to the national team[151] for the first time since the international friendly against Argentina on 4 September 2014.

[154] On 21 June 2016, Gómez was selected to start in Germany's final Euro 2016 group match against Northern Ireland; he scored the winning goal in the 30th minute.

[158] On 24 June, Gómez provided an assist to Marco Reus' equalizing goal with his first touch during Germany's second group stage match against Sweden; the game ended in a 2–1 victory.

Gómez, in a suitcoat, lifts the Bundesliga trophy above his head
Gómez celebrates winning the Bundesliga with VfB Stuttgart in 2007 .
Gómez on the field in a white Germany kit
Gómez playing for Germany in 2011
Gómez on the bench
Gómez with Germany in 2018