Germany midfielder Toni Kroos has criticised former World Cup-winning team-mate Mesut Ozil for the way he announced his international retirement.
Ozil said he was quitting international football in the wake of Germany’s shock World Cup exit at the group stage in Russia.
The Arsenal playmaker and Ilkay Gundogan, who is also of Turkish descent, were jeered by German fans during World Cup warm-up matches for having their photograph taken with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
When he announced his retirement, Ozil said he had faced “racism and disrespect” because of his Turkish roots, and accused the German Football Association of failing to back him in the row over the photo.
But Kroos said: “Basically Mesut is a deserved international and as a player he deserved a better departure.
“But the way he resigned was not in order.
“The parts in his statement that are rightly addressed are unfortunately overshadowed by the significantly higher amount of nonsense.
“I think he knows very well that racism within the national team and the DFB does not exist.”
The 28-year-old Kroos, who has won the last three Champions League titles with Real Madrid, has no plans to follow Ozil into international retirement.
“I will continue towards Euro 2020 and have set myself the goal of being far more successful there than in the recent past,” Kroos added.
“I had a good talk with (national team coach) Joachim Loew. We will find solutions together so that I can get a break here and there.For me that’s the only way and I am thankful for Jogi’s understanding.”
German teammate Manuel Nuer had previously said that Germany’s players had accepted the decision of Mesut Ozil to retire from international duty.
Neuer, acknowledged the right of the former Real Madrid star to walk away, and feels Germany’s poor performance in Russia has inflated the issue.
“If both of them [Ozil and Gundogan] or all of the players performed great at the World Cup we wouldn’t stand here and talk about this,” he said.
Asked if he was personally disappointed by Ozil’s retirement, Neuer replied: “It’s the decision of [each individual] player. When another player is saying that he wants to [retire] it’s his own decision. You have to search [for] the reasons on your own then and in that case, he has found them. We’re accepting this decision of course.In the past other players had quit their career at the national team too after a tournament like the European Championship or the World Cup.”
The Germany’s football association denied allegations of racism from Arsenal star Mesut Ozil.
The World Cup winner cited the “racism and disrespect” he’s faced in his homeland for his Turkish roots.
After Arsenal defended their player with a defiant message on Twitter, the German FA (DFB) issued a statement.
It read: “We emphatically reject the DFB being linked to racism.
“The DFB has been very involved in integration work in Germany for many years.
“It is regrettable that Mesut Ozil felt that he had not been sufficiently protected as a target of racist slogans.