Mario Goetze's career has stalled since he scored Germany's World Cup-winning goal in 2014, and it shows no sign of picking up again.
Goetze was challenged by Germany coach Joachim Loew to "show the world that you're better than Messi" before he sent him on in the final against Argentina, but now the 26-year-old attacking midfielder can't even get a game for Borussia Dortmund.
There's a chance Goetze may be left out of the squad altogether for Eintracht Frankfurt's visit in the Bundesliga on Friday.
"You have to be honest. Mario can play in the middle. He can play (as part of a) 4-3-3. He can play this system. But there is an enormous amount of players in midfield," Dortmund coach Lucien Favre said.
"He can play as a false-nine, but we have (Shinji) Kagawa and (Marco) Reus there."
"The empathy wasn't to be seen. Empathy is part of being a world-class coach. Every athlete is also a person and you should combine both."
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