Germany’s World Cup-winner Mario Goetze is poised to play for the first time in seven months for Borussia Dortmund at Wolfsburg on Saturday to end his illness misery.
“Mario has taken full part (in training) and it looks good,” confirmed Dortmund’s new coach Peter Bosz on Thursday.
Goetze last played on January 29 before being sidelined by a metabolic disorder, which was discovered after a series of below-par performances.
The 25-year-old, whose chest and volley sealed Germany’s victory in the 2014 World Cup final, played in Dortmund’s pre-season games, but missed the German Super Cup defeat to Bayern Munich a fortnight ago with a back injury.
At Wolfsburg, Dortmund will be without Barcelona-target Ousmane Dembele, who is suspended after skipping training in a crude bid to force Borussia to sell him.
Germany winger Andre Schuerrle is out for the next four weeks with a thigh tear, while Marco Reus (knee), Raphael Guerreiro (recovering from operation) and Julian Weigl (recovering from a broken ankle) are also sidelined. Bosz has replaced Thomas Tuchel as Dortmund’s head coach after steering Ajax to the Europa League final in May.
The Dutchman says Dortmund’s goals are a top-four finish, to qualify directly for the Champions League, and to reach the knock-out stages of this year’s competition.
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