With Mesut Özil, one of the best German footballers of his generation has ended his career. And one that polarized the most.
World champion, U21 European champion, Spanish champion with Real Madrid – his successes have been enormous. Özil shaped German football for years. The ball was always his friend, in his good scenes he made everyone who loves football rave.
A playful fine spirit, an international superstar for a long time, with brilliant moments and many fans in Germany and Turkey, the home of his parents. On Wednesday, Özil announced his retirement from his beloved sport after 17 years as a professional, at the age of 34.
It’s a shame that Özil doesn’t get the respect that such a career deserves. But it’s also up to him. For a long time his life was the story of a rise, he made it from a Gelsenkirchen apartment with rats in the basement to one of the best footballers in the world, to wealth and fame. Most recently, his story was more about descents and discord.
Before the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Özil had his picture taken with the Turkish ruler Recep Tayyip Erdoğan – and he dealt with the criticism that followed differently than his teammate İlkay Gündoğan, who declared himself and still plays for Germany to this day. In the case of Özil, who was once awarded an integration prize, the action led to a break with the German Football Association.
With weak crisis management, the association made a decisive contribution to the fact that it escalated to such an extent. Özil felt like a scapegoat and emigrated to Turkey. In Germany there was a lot of justified criticism, but sometimes also insults and hatred. Özil rightly complained that he was not protected enough.
Sporty things have been going downhill since then. At Arsenal he got along less and less, now his career ends with Erdogan’s favorite club Istanbul Başakşehir as the last station.
The past few years of international career seem unworthy for an exceptional player who made almost a hundred appearances for Germany and shook hands with Chancellor Angela Merkel in the dressing room after a shirtless win against Turkey.
Who made wrong decisions in the winter of his career and struggled with injuries. It’s a farewell without glamor. Mesut Özil always saw himself exclusively as an athlete. Maybe he was more. And maybe that was sometimes too much for him.
