Sport Gotze backs Usain Bolt to be football success

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Mario Gotze believes Usain Bolt can succeed as a professional footballer after witnessing his development first-hand during the superstar athlete's stint at Borussia Dortmund.

The eight-time Olympic champion is currently on trial with Australia's Central Coast Mariners and is hoping to win a permanent contract with the A-League club over the next 12 months.

Gotze saw Bolt's potential during a training stint at his Bundesliga club earlier this year and thinks the 32-year-old sprint king can make the transition from athletics to football.

Usain Bolt toasts zero-gravity with champagne

Usain Bolt on Wednesday sprinted through thin air and sipped champagne floating on his back as he enjoyed near zero-gravity conditions in the back of an aircraft performing stomach-lurching parabola dives. The eight-time Olympic champion grinned as he experienced weightlessness in a modified plane normally used for scientific research -- but on this occasion to showcase a champagne bottle that will allow astronauts to drink bubbles in space.

"I think [Bolt] can make it. I don’t really know the level of the Australian league and I don’t know the teams there," Gotze told Omnisport.

© REUTERS/David Gray Usain Bolt

"He is a sportsman and he has a lot of abilities that are important to be successful in football, too."

Gotze, who scored the winning goal for Germany at the 2014 World Cup, spoke fondly of Bolt's time at Dortmund

He also expressed his surprise at Bolt's level of technique considering his lack of experience in the sport.

"It was very interesting to have Usain Bolt here. Just to meet him in person and to see an athlete from a different kind of sport come here to try to play soccer," he said.

"But he did quite well. I have to admit that I expected him to be worse.

"It’s was pretty nice that he was here. Especially because of what he reached in his sport. That’s phenomenal."

Bolt's next chance to impress the Mariners hierarchy will come in a friendly in Wollongong on October 6.

Pictures: Australian sport's all-rounders