Selfless Gomez wants best for Germany

Having missed Germany's Group C opener and remained on the bench for their second game, Mario Gomez came up trumps with the winner in their third outing against Northern Ireland, earning coach Joachim Löw's praise for "the way he moved, tied down two defenders and opened up space for team-mates".

The Turkish Süper Lig's 26-goal top scorer with Beşiktaş this season, 30-year-old striker Gomez spoke to EURO2016.com.

EURO2016.com: The win against Northern Ireland was well-deserved, but you were not entirely happy. Why?

Mario Gomez: We had an enormous amount of chances. I don't think Northern Ireland had any at all – maybe one shot from distance in the first half. It was a great performance from us but our chance-conversion rate wasn't as it should be. In the group stage, you could argue that this is not so important and that maybe we are saving our goals for the knockout rounds.

• EURO by numbers: the top performers so far
• Germany v Slovakia background

EURO2016.com: Benedikt Höwedes was full of praise for Joshua Kimmich, who replaced him at right-back. What did you make of that?

Gomez: I think it sums up this team perfectly. We always want the best for each other in every game. Anything else wouldn't work at all. I was there when we lost to Italy in the 2012 semi-final. We were devastated and ended up feeling like the biggest losers of the tournament. But in 2014, you could see that each and every one of us would benefit from being world champions. Even from a distance, I saw clearly that the team has to function as a whole to win a tournament like a World Cup and that's the way it is today.

Judging by the team spirit and the individuals, we have what it takes to be an absolutely top team and go for the title. I think Benni's comments epitomise the team's character and in recent days we are starting to recognise the team that we have known from the past few years.

EURO2016.com: How much did the goal against Northern Ireland mean to you?

Gomez: A lot. I am finally in my best form and know I am capable of finishing those chances we get. Against Poland, we couldn't do that. We wanted to improve and that was my job against Northern Ireland.

It's great when your work results in a goal, but once again I never thought for a second about winning the Golden Boot – I just want to win the EURO. That's all that matters to me.

• Who is the referee? UEFA EURO 2016 appointments
• Pekarík's nose for Slovakia v Germany

EURO2016.com: Everyone is talking about the classic ties that might await Germany in the quarter-finals or semis – Spain, Italy, England, France. Is there any danger of underestimating Slovakia?

Gomez: There is no danger of that – we are not that sort of team. We will analyse our opponents very thoroughly; we played them recently and we know this game won't be a walk in the park. Those possible ties later in the tournament are a great prospect, though. This is a European Championship and you want games like that.