Mario Gotze’s World Cup winning boot raises two million euros for charity

When the left boot of Mario Gotze smashed home the only goal in extra-time of the 2014 World Cup final, it became the most important kick in German football for 24 years.
It’s no surprise, then, that people were scrambling for the right to own such an iconic item in a gala for German charity ‘A Heart for Children’, where the boot was put up for auction.
World Cup hero Gotze told Bild: ‘I have never washed the boot. It is still in the same condition as it was in Rio, when I left the stadium with it.
‘There is still grass on it. I have never put the boot on after the final. I kept it safe at my house.’
Charity treasurer Niko Knochenhauer described the amounts raised as ‘overwhelming’ and ‘unimaginable,’ as bids soared into the millions.
‘I would not have dreamed. Two million – that’s a huge sum. The good thing is that it is for a good cause… and not just for the shoe,’ Knochenhauer gleamed.