Bayern Munich's Argentinean midfielder Jose Ernesto Sosa insists the gold medal he won at the Beijing Olympic Games will inspire him to help put the German giants back on top of the Bundesliga. Schalke 04 went top of the German table on Saturday with a 1-0 win over neighbours VfL Bochum to give them seven points, but two draws from their opening two games have left defending champions Munich off the pace.
Regardless of Sunday's result against Hertha Berlin at the Allianz Arena, Jurgen Klinsmann's Bayern now need a run of form to challenge Hamburg, Dortmund and Schalke who are all locked on seven points at the top of the Bundesliga. The 23-year-old attacking midfielder Sosa returned to Munich from Beijing last weekend.
But he signalled his intent to make his second season at Bayern a success by going directly from the airport to Munich's Saebener Strasse training ground. After helping his country beat Nigeria 1-0 at Beijing's National Stadium on August 23, Sosa says he wants to transfer his Olympic success onto Bayern. "The gold medal means I'm even more motivated," he declared. "The gold is very significant to me, because I won it for my country. "I've come back with my sights set high. I'm fit and feeling great."
Sosa made 25 appearances for Bayern last term, including ten starts and is now hoping to improve on that total. "I'm in great shape and really fired up about football, although obviously it's Jurgen Klinsmann's decision whether to pick me or not," he said.