World Cup Hero Mario Gotze Joins Cryptocurrency Community

German star footballer Mario Gotze has made small steps to join the ever-growing cryptocurrency community by changing his Twitter profile picture to that of a CryptoPunk.

Making smol steps in the crypto space pic.twitter.com/UkRRtDthTf

— mariogotze.eth (@MarioGoetze) January 5, 2022

Gotze also followed the suit of Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and beer producer Budweiser by using his Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domain as his new account handle.

Gotze appeared in the international spotlight in 2014 after miraculously scoring the World Cup-winning goal during the extra time for the German team. Former German chancellor Angela Merkel personally congratulated Gotze and the rest of the team after the match. The Bavaria native immediately became a national hero at the age of 22, with people calling him “the German Messi.” In December 2014, Gotze’s left boot, with which he scored the historic goal, was sold for 2 million euros.       
 
In an unfortunate twist of fate, things went downhill for Gotze after the World Cup, with his persona becoming a magnet for criticism. In 2017, he fell victim to a debilitating metabolic disorder that posed a threat to his career. After parting ways with Dortmund in 2020 after failing to renew his contract. During the same year, he joined crypto-friendly club PSV Eindhoven.

The football (soccer) industry is no stranger to crypto. Spanish footballer Andres Iniesta recently ruffled the feathers of Spanish regulator CNMV after promoting Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, without disclosing the fact that he got paid by the company.

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi also became part of the cryptocurrency mania last year by agreeing to get partially paid in Paris Saint-Germain’s PSG token as part of his two-year contract with the French football club.