Gosens catches the eye
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH SHOW KEEPS GERMAN HOPES ALIVE
Robin Gosens could scarcely believe it as German fans chanted his name around Munich’s Allianz Arena in tribute to his Man-of-the-Match display in Germany’s spectacular Euro 2020 win over Portugal.
“I have to pinch myself, it feels unreal, an unbelievable evening on all levels for me. You couldn’t ask for more,” said Gosens.
Gosens scored with a thumping header to add to his two assists, and also had a goal disallowed after a cracking volley early in Saturday’s 4-2 victory.
His eye-catching performance in only his ninth international cemented Gosens’ place in the Germany team.
He was a constant threat from Germany’s left flank and gave Portugal right-back Nelson Semedo a torrid afternoon.
A win over Hungary on Wednesday in Munich will guarantee Germany a place in the last 16.
Yet against holders Portugal, Gosens epitomised the Germans’ determination to bounce back after losing the opening game to France.
“That was passionate, a huge game from us. We threw everything at it,” said the Atalanta defender.
“If we hadn’t taken the three points, things would have looked very different and we pushed each other.”
After scoring Germany’s fourth goal with a well-timed header after an hour, an adductor
strain saw him substituted off with chants of “Gosens” echoing around the stadium.
Having flirted with elimination, Germany go into their final Group F game level on points but with a head-to-head advantage over Portugal, and a point behind France.
On a personal level, Gosens has now nailed down the leftback berth with a performance which stole a mark on rival Lukas Klostermann.
The 26-year-old Gosens took a
long route to the national team.
Born in the town of Emmerich am Rhein on the border with the Netherlands, he played for local German teams Fortuna Elten, FC Bocholt and VfL Rhede before joining Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem.
Despite playing for Vitesse’s junior sides, he left without making a first-team appearance and after spells with Dordrecht and Heracles Almelo, Gosens signed for Atalanta in 2017.
He developed so much under
Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini that Germany came calling.
He made his international debut last September and luckilyh missed out on selection when the Germans were thrashed 6-0 by Spain last November.
Since German coach Joachim Loew switched from a back four to a three-man defence ahead of Euro 2020, Gosens has been a regular at left wing-back and scored his first international goal a fortnight ago in a 7-1 rout of Latvia in a warm-up friendly. –