Teenage rising star Mario Goetze has been dubbed Germany&#39;s Lionel Messi and despite an injury-hit 2012, coach Joachim Loew has said he plans to give him a key role at Euro 2012. Goetze only turns 20 on June 3, six days before the Germans begin their Group B campaign against Portugal in Lviv, Ukraine. Having joined his hometown club as an eight-year-old, he made his Bundesliga debut in November 2009 and was part of the Borussia Dortmund squad crowned German champions for the last two seasons. <img alt="Goetze" src="/imagedata/2012/may/23m-goetze.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 347px; " /> Mario Goetze trains with the German national team. Pic/AFP In October 2010, Goetze became Germany&#39;s second-youngest player to make his debut, just five months after turning 18. Great vision and the ability to put team-mates into goal-scoring positions with an array of passes, the attacking midfielder has already proved he can lead Germany&#39;s attack, despite his tender years. He announced his arrival last August with two stand-out performances. Dazzling in Dortmund&#39;s opening game of the season as Hamburg were hammered 3-1, Goetze scored one goal and creating another as German daily Bild ran the headline &quot;Goetzlich&quot;, a play on words meaning &quot;Divine&quot; in German. &quot;We call him &#39;Goetzinho&#39;,&quot; admitted Dortmund midfielder Sven Bender. &quot;He raises the standard of those around him, he controls the ball as though he has a magnet in his boot.&quot; Five days after humbling Hamburg, Goetze made his first start for Germany and orchestrated the 3-2 friendly win over Brazil in Stuttgart as he over-shadowed the South Americans and scored his first international goal. He backed that up with the final goal in the 6-2 rout of Austria at the start of September which confirmed Germany&#39;s Euro 2012 place. &quot;He&#39;s impossible to stop. You don&#39;t get any better than him,&quot; Germany&#39;s former World Cup winning coach and captain Franz Beckenbauer enthused. &quot;His ability is like Lionel Messi&#39;s, as well as his understanding of the game and technique. &quot;On top of that, he plays by instinct -- just like Messi.&quot; Beckenbauer was not alone: Matthias Sammer, technical director of the German football federation (DFB), went as far as to say Goetze is one of the best talents football-mad Germany has produced. &quot;He&#39;s an exceptional player: fast, creative and with extraordinary technical abilities,&quot; said Sammer. &quot;He&#39;s one of the most talented players we&#39;ve ever had.&quot; But Goetze -- whose performances have bagged him a 1.5-million-euro (1.2-million-pound, $1.9 million) endorsement deal with sportswear firm Nike as well as interest from top European clubs -- comes into Euro 2012 lacking match fitness. A muscle tear and groin problems forced him out of action for four months at the start of 2012. He was involved in all of Dortmund&#39;s last three league games and Loew has said he will play a key part in his plans to take a trophy back to Germany after a 16-year absence and will be more than just a replacement. <img alt="mario-goetze" src="/imagedata/2012/may/23mario-goetze.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 357px; " /> German defender Mats Hummels (right) and midfielder Mario Goetze (left) practice during a training session at the team&#39;s Euro 2012 training camp. Pic/AFPu00a0 &quot;Goetze has only been with us for about a year but plays as though he&#39;s always been part of this team. I think that both can play more than just a bench role at the European Championship,&quot; said Loew. &quot;I have worked with many youngsters but none has ever played so confidently in the national team.&quot; Goetze&#39;s father Juergen is a distinguished professor at Dortmund&#39;s technical university. He had a research position in the United States when his son was born and admitted with a smile that he initially wanted young Mario to play tennis. The player is one of the first members of the squad born into a united Germany and at just 1.71m (5ft 6in) tall and weighing a mere 64 kilograms (141 pounds, 10 stone), Goezte&#39;s skill set compensates for his slender frame.u00a0

Germany's former World Cup winning coach and captain Franz Beckenbauer believes 19-year-old Mario Goetze's abilities are like Lionel Messi's.

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