Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin has praised Arsenal team-mate Mesut Ozil for speaking out about the issues that led to his international retirement.
Ozil ended his Germany career on Sunday, confirming his decision in a series of social media statements that criticised the media and German FA president Reinhard Grindel. The playmaker, who has been at the centre of a storm surrounding the photo he took with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May, claimed he was made a scapegoat for his country’s poor World Cup performance due to his Turkish roots. His comments received support from Spanish full-back Bellerin, who posted a message of solidarity on Twitter.
“Surreal that someone who has done so much for his country on and off the pitch has been treated with such disrespect,” Bellerin wrote. Well done Mesut Ozil for standing up to this behaviour!”
Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng, who debuted for Germany in the same year as Ozil, shared a photo of the two together, adding: “It was a pleasure Abi”, with ‘Abi’ the Turkish word for brother.
Ozil was eligible to play for either Germany or Turkey, Özil chose to play for his country of birth. In September 2006, he was called up for the Germany under-17 team. He was a member of the German under-21 team from 2007. On 29 June 2009, Özil was selected the man of the match in a 4–0 win over England during the U-21 European Championship final.
He made his debut for the senior side during a friendly match against Norway on 11 February 2009. He scored his first goal for the senior team in his third appearance, another friendly, against South Africa on 5 September in Leverkusen at the BayArena.
Özil was selected for Germany’s squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, starting in all of the team’s matches.He provided an assist for Cacau’s goal to the 4–0 final score against Australia in Germany’s first group game. He scored a left-footed half-volley from the edge of the penalty area against Ghana in the final group game, ensuring Germany progressed to the second round as group winners.
On 27 June 2010, Özil played in Germany’s win over England in the last 16 match, setting up the fourth goal with a cross to Thomas Müller as Germany triumphed 4–1. During the quarter-final match against Argentina, he assisted the second goal for Miroslav Klose with a cross to ensure the 4–0 final score for the Germans. FIFA announced that he was among the ten tournament players nominated for the Golden Ball.
Özil was one of the leading forces in Germany’s qualification for UEFA Euro 2012, scoring five times during the campaign as Germany won all ten of its games to top their group. Özil also confirmed his reputation as a decisive passer, as he provided seven assists, more than any European international during Euro 2012 qualification When asked about his country’s chances at Euro 2012, Özil simply replied, “We have the potential to beat anyone and we have what it takes to win the title.
On 29 February 2012, Özil was recognised as Germany’s best international of the year for 2011 prior to kick-off at a friendly against France in Bremen. Özil’s Germany were drawn with the Netherlands, Denmark and Portugal into Group B at Euro 2012, widely touted as the “Group of Death.”
Özil registered two assists, created nine chances, and claimed the Man of the Match award in Germany’s 4–2 quarter-final win over Greece. He then scored Germany’s only goal (a penalty) in their 2–1 loss to Italy in the semi-finals. His performance at Euro 2012 earned him two Carlsberg Man of the Match Awards. He finished the tournament as the joint-highest assist provider (3) and was named in the UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament.
Özil ended the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign as Germany’s top scorer with eight goals.
Following an injury to Marco Reus in a warm-up game, Özil was moved from his customary number 10 role into the left-winger position for the majority of the tournament. He started all seven of Germany’s 2014 FIFA World Cup games and helped Germany make history by becoming the first European team to win the World Cup in South America. Özil scored the decisive goal in the 119th minute of Germany’s 2–1 round of 16victory over Algeria, a match widely praised as one of the most entertaining of the tournament. Özil then provided an assist for Sami Khedira in Germany’s 7–1 semi-final win over Brazil. The goal Özil assisted, with a clever pass, made the score 5–0 to Germany after just 29 minutes. The shocking nature of the 5-goal flurry generated worldwide astonishment.
In the final, Özil played 120 minutes before being replaced by Arsenal teammate Per Mertesacker. Germany were crowned World Champions with a 1–0 win. After the trophy was presented to the Germany team, UEFA President Michel Platini asked Özil for his match shirt as a souvenir, and Özil obliged. He concluded the tournament as the leader in passes completed in the final third , was ranked joint-second in chances created (17), behind only Lionel Messi , and ranked second overall in possessions won in the final-third.
On 12 June 2016, Özil completed the full 90 minutes of Germany’s opening Euro 2016 match against Ukraine which Germany won 2–0. He assisted Bastian Schweinsteiger’s goal in the 92nd minute.On 21 June 2016, Özil completed 99% of his passes, created six chances and claimed the Man of the Match award in Germany’s win over Northern Ireland. Five days later, Özil started in Germany’s 3–0 round of 16 win over Slovakia. In the 13th minute of the match, he had a penalty effort saved by goalkeeper Matúš Kozáčik. On 2 July 2016, Özil scored the leading goal against Italy in the quarter-finals to give Germany a 1–0 advantage, before Italy later equalised through Leonardo Bonucci’s penalty. Germany, however, emerged as the victorious side after winning the penalty shoot-out 6–5, despite Özil failing to convert his penalty kick after hitting the goal post.
Özil was selected by manager Joachim Löw in Germany’s final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Despite the national team heavily under-performing as defending champions by being eliminated in the group stages, Özil featured in two of the country’s three games, and averaged more chances per 90 minutes (5.5) than any other player in the competition.
Erdoğan meeting and retirement from the national team
In May 2018, Özil posed for a photograph with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the lead up to The Turkish elections. Many saw it as supporting Erdoğan in the elections and the German Football Association (DBF) president criticized Özil for it.