Soccer-World Cup snub rounds off Gomez's 'ugliest season'

May 8 (Reuters) - Fiorentina striker Mario Gomez vowed to bounce back after failing to make Germany's provisional World Cup squad on Thursday to cap the "ugliest" season of his career. The former Bayern Munich player, who has featured in only a handful of games since September due to a string of injuries, was not included by Germany coach Joachim Loew due to a lack of fitness. "After the league and cup I am going to miss the World Cup as well," Gomez wrote on his Facebook page. "I hoped I could get fit in time but all the injuries threw me back ... for what is the ugliest season of my career." Loew said he would have liked to have picked the 28-year-old Gomez but his lack of match practice would have been a gamble in Brazil next month. "He has played only 280 minutes since September. I was of the opinion that he would not be in a position to respond physically to the conditions," Loew said. The coach offered the forward some hope, saying that when he returned to full fitness he would be able to reclaim his place in the squad. "I will come back like I have done so often in my career," said Gomez. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; editing by Tony Jimenez)