There he goes. Off with a whimper.
Mesut Ozil has announced his retirement from international football.
Ozil was heavily criticised after his team’s exit in the group stages of the recent World Cup. He had previously attracted criticism following his May meeting with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He, Ilkay Gundogan and Turkish international Cenk Tosun were photographed meeting the Turkish president at an event in London on 14 May, leading to widespread criticism in the German press.
In the first part of his statement, released to his 23 million Twitter followers, Ozil insists that there was no political motivation behind his meeting with Erdogan.
The past couple of weeks have given me time to reflect, and time to think over the events of the last few months. Consequently, I want to share my thoughts and feelings about what has happened. pic.twitter.com/WpWrlHxx74
— Mesut Özil (@M10) July 22, 2018
He then went on to criticise the German media for its portrayal of him and using his dual-heritage as a means to attack him.
II / III pic.twitter.com/Jwqv76jkmd
— Mesut Özil (@M10) July 22, 2018
Finally, he announced his retirement from international football with immediate effect.
He wrote:
“It is with a heavy heart and after much consideration that because of recent events, I will no longer be playing for Germany at international level whilst I have this feeling of racism and disrespect.
“I used to wear the German shirt with such pride and excitement but now I don’t.
“This decision has been extremely difficult to make because I have always given everything for my team-mates, the coaching staff and the good people of Germany.
“But when high-ranking DFB officials treat me as they did, disrespect my Turkish roots and selfishly turn me into political propaganda, then enough is enough.
“That is now why I play football, and I will not sit back and do nothing about it.
“Racism should never, ever be accepted.”
III / III pic.twitter.com/c8aTzYOhWU
— Mesut Özil (@M10) July 22, 2018
The 29-year-old Arsenal player has earned 92 caps for Germany, racking up 29 goal in a nine-year international career and being a key part of Joachim Löw’s team that won the 2014 World Cup.
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