Mario González is already Super Mario. In his first months as a player of the SC Braga, the Burgos forward had lost his close relationship with the goal, but his positions are getting closer. Mario, for whom the ‘arsenalistas’ paid more than one million euros to Villarreal, has scored three goals in their last four games -only one as a starter- and his image is increasingly similar to the one he offered in Tondela, with whose shirt he signed 14 goals last season. “I have had to adapt to a football that I was not used to, but I feel better every day: more connected and eager to learn and do new things,” Mario discovers in AS after scoring his first goal in the UEFA Europa League.
It was that, the possibility of returning to play a Europa League in which he already debuted with Villarreal, which made Mario González decide for Braga. “There were clubs that offered more money. From other countries and even from the Spanish First Division”, but the Burgos forward was guided by his feelings. “They had told me very well about Braga and when the offer came I did not hesitate. It was what I wanted at that time,” he happily discovers because, after several complicated months, he feels that he is finding his best version again: “I played a lot at the start of the season, but I hadn’t quite joined the team. I felt like I didn’t have the scoring opportunities that I’ve always been able to create. But in the last month things have changed a lot. I’m starting to have more situations of goal and that pleases me. It is what a forward needs the most “.
“One of the problems in football is that we are in too much of a hurry, but everything takes time”
Mario González, SC Braga player
Mario González took 11 games to score his first goal for SC Braga. Another forward would have lost hope; He was patiently aware that “sometimes things take time to come.” “One of the problems in football is that we are in too much of a hurry, but everything takes time. When I started to feel better, I failed occasions that I am not used to failing, but I have not stopped working at any time”, exposes the Burgos forward, who knew how to fit in that his coach, Carlos Carvalhal, would leave him without minutes in some games: “It’s normal. The coach needs performance and, when you don’t give it to him, the logical thing is that he chooses other players. That’s why I celebrated my first league goal with such anger. Because of the desire I had for it to arrive. I hope this week will serve as a turning point. “
If the strikers live off streaks, Mario González’s with the Braga jersey has only just begun. The Burgos forward took almost three months to score his first goal with the ‘Arsenalistas’, but he only needed three weeks to debut in three different competitions: he scored in the win against Moitense in Taça da Liga, he closed the victory against Portimonense in the League and restored peace to his fans by scoring against Ludogorets in the Europa League. “At first I was worried about not having chances, but I calmed down when I started to have them. It makes me angry because I have met two or three times with the stick and they have made me two or three incredible saves, but football is moments. At some point they have to start coming in and I think that moment is now “, analyzes a Mario González who feels” supported by the fans, the club and the coach “: “When you break the ice, everything is easier.”
Braga, a nonconformist club
Despite starting the season falling in the Portuguese Super Cup and winning only in the first two days of the Portuguese First Division, Braga is currently fourth and ahead only has Porto, Sporting CP and Benfica, their rival for the next weekend. of week. “The goal is to be in the top four. Quarters we have to be yes or yes, but the club wants to take a step forward and be among the top three. The truth is that the three above are superior in terms of budget and staff. We are not obliged to surpass them, but we are excited that that moment can come “, assesses a Mario González who believes that” the Portuguese league is undervalued. “‘Super Mario’, as he is nicknamed in Portugal, will ensure that it resonates strongly .