Germany recorded an important victory at the European Championship on Saturday. The team of national coach Joachim Löw was 2-4 too strong for European champions Portugal in an extremely entertaining game in Munich, which scored two own goals. Robin Gosens, who was born in Emmerich a stone’s throw from the Netherlands, excelled: he himself worked the fourth goal against the ropes, and was at the basis of two more German hits with razor-sharp crosses. In the opening phase he already worked a ball very artfully behind Rui Patricio, but the goal was disallowed due to Serge Gnabry’s offside.
“Horny! Hornier! gossen! Gosens gala puts Ronaldo in the shadows”, exults BILD about the impressive duel of Gosens, who was active in the youth of Vitesse and then played as a professional for FC Dordrecht and Heracles Almelo. Sports1 could hardly believe what it was seeing of the left-footed star. “Just one word is enough to describe his achievement: world class. He was involved in almost every attack. Insane!”
according to die Süddeutsche Zeitung Gosens played ‘perhaps the game of his life’. Löw was full of praise for Gosens: the national coach of the Mannschaft convinced him last year to choose Germany over the Netherlands, which he could have represented because of his Dutch passport. “I don’t know if Robin played the game of his life, but he played great. He radiates an insane amount of danger towards the opponent’s goal. It’s nice to see how he’s doing. Hopefully he can maintain this line for the rest of the tournament.”
“It feels unreal. It couldn’t be more beautiful. I couldn’t have asked for more,” Atalanta’s left leg continued. “The national coach gives me a lot of confidence, which allows me to make the most of my attacking power,” said Gosens, who was named man of the match. “The boys were often looking for me and of course I’m very happy about that. To score in such an important game is fantastic. It was a duel we had to win. We have rewarded ourselves for the energy we put into it.”
Of course, the perilous moment with Cristiano Ronaldo was also discussed. In a match between Atalanta and Juventus, he asked the Portuguese for his shirt. “He didn’t even look at me and declined the question. I was really ashamed at that moment. I walked away feeling very small. I hoped no one had seen it and I backed off,” Gosens said at the time. On Saturday he was asked whether he had made another attempt. “This time I didn’t ask for Ronaldo’s shirt. I just wanted to enjoy.”
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