German striker Mario Gomez recalls the moment he felt he became a man.

The VfL Wolfsburg star was with VfB Stuttgart when he made his senior debut in a Champions League match against Chelsea in March 2004.

Gomez, now 31, had come through the ranks at Stuttgart before he was given a chance by Felix Magath and it was at that point that he believes he really get up.

“I soon learned what it meant to be a man on the pitch as well," he wrote for The Players' Tribune.

“After doing well with the youth team I got brought up to Stuttgart's second team and then, eventually, to its senior team.

“Our coach was a hard guy — a lot of training, a lot of running.

“One day, he came up to me and told me that I was going to play in our Champions League match against Chelsea.

“I was only 18 years old and for 10 minutes I got to share the field with Frank Lampard. My first touch was against Marcel Desailly.

“'Unbelievable!' I thought. 'I'm not a kid anymore'."