As a striker, your job is mostly to forget. When you have someone like Vidic marking you, and it's misery for 89 minutes, all you have to do is forget everything. Forget the 89 minutes. Because in the 90th minute, you might finally get your chance. I have been pretty good at this in my career.
Mario Gomez
Obviously, it's my goal to be the top scorer in the Bundesliga, but it wouldn't be a disaster if I didn't achieve that.
I am a forward and want to score many goals but for me that is not important. What is important is to be successful with the team.
I asked myself whether I would be happy with limited playing time and I decided that wasn't good enough for me.
I know from my Real Madrid team-mates Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira and my family in Andalucia that people look up to me in Spain.
I have no fear of anyone.
I have said that if I leave Bayern I will go abroad. Then came this interesting offer from Liverpool. I took the loan offer seriously and discussed it with my family and girlfriend because I just want to play. But Bayern gave me the impression that they see a future for me. And therefore a change was not an issue anymore.
If for half a year you only get 10 minutes to play from the bench, then you have no rhythm.
Merkel is a big fan of football.
It's tough to leave one of the greatest clubs in the world.
It is not always easy to change country.
I came to Munich full of confidence, with plenty of energy, and really looking forward to it, in a way I don't think I'd had in my career before.
I don't have any use for the hatred in a football stadium.
A World Cup in Brazil is the greatest event in which a footballer can play.
At one point, I asked myself whether I was having fun with the national team, or whether I was just out to convince critics.
Juventus made a big offer for me, I think it was around €20 million. Stuttgart were thinking about it, but I was the one who declined. I thought it was better for me to stay there and grow as a player before making a big move.
Scoring from a metre out is just as beautiful as lobbing a goalkeeper from the halfway line.
What matters and what remains are the titles you win with a team. League and Cup, that's what matters.
Sometimes you'll go up against keepers like Casillas - the 'penalty killer,' as many of us call him. Other times, there's that one defender that, for 90 minutes, just destroys you. There is one in particular who will always stand out in my mind. Nemanja Vidic.
I have played for many clubs, and for many managers, and been through many highs and lows. But one thing has never changed. And that's the feeling of scoring a goal.
The rotation system at Bayern makes it nearly impossible to play week after week, even when you're putting in some top performances.
Sometimes football is a crazy thing.
I'll do anything to get a place in the national team.
If I become a European champion, I don't care whether I have absolute recognition or not.
Being gay is no longer a taboo subject in Germany.
The Bundesliga is extremely attractive. In the long run it will be the most attractive league of all.
I would never go to another club in the Bundesliga. After Bayern Munich, it would only be a step down.
One can always improve, but I know my strengths and I know that I am complete.
Winning the cannon was a childhood dream.
At 26, you're in your prime as a striker. And in the mid-20s you're more mature, you have experience in game-deciding situations, you stay relaxed.
We have to win if we want to be champions.
Between 2008 and 2010 I exhausted myself because I wanted to please everyone.
I just stand there up front and score the goals, because that's my job.
Bayern do not depend on any individual players.
The point is that there are few opportunities in top games. For this you need a striker who has the absolute will to achieve the goal.
Winning is why we play football.
I'd call my time at Bayern Munich a roller-coaster ride.
Life normally rewards you for hard work.
For me, the most important thing is to be part of the team and contribute to the club's success with my performances.
I don't measure my performances in goals any more, it's more important that my team-mates see how hard I work for them.
You score the winner against a tough opponent and you still get heaped on.
For me, scoring goals is the most fun. That's why I love soccer so much.
You can't expect our opponents to play cautiously.
Of course I want to score more goals in the Champions League. But I never want to compare myself or be compared to Lionel Messi.
I wanted for nothing at Bayern, but the most important thing was always playing as much as I could.
My dream is to win something here in Italy and I won't talk about scoring a specific number of goals. I just want to do the best I can.
When it became clear that I couldn't stay at Bayern I thought about going to play in Spain or Italy. Fiorentina came forward, they were looking for a striker, and everything happened very quickly.
Scoring a goal is an explosion of feelings. It's there immediately - bam! Before you kick the ball, you feel like you're 200 kilos. Then the ball leaves your foot, goes through the air and ripples the net. And for that moment, you're weightless.
I think a lot of people write off strikers like me, the true number 9 who hangs out at the top of the box. I mean, even I wanted to be a player like Romario as a kid.
As a young player, national duty always felt kind of like... a duty. It was always there, it was normal, it was part of the job.
