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What caused Mesut Ozil, Arsenal and Germany star, to retire from international football at the peak of his career? Ozil retired from international football on 22 July, and the German national team has a hard to predict future due to the loss of a key player.
Ozil was one of 8 players in Germany's World Cup squad for 2018 who also were present in Brazil 4 years ago, and his experience could really have helped Germany right now, as the country are currently in a rut after failing to proceed from the group stage for the first time. On the other hand, he also has a reputation for disappearing in matches, such as the match versus Mexico in which they lost 1-0, with Andres Guardado having the Arsenal playmaker in his pocket for the majority of the game.
The personal factor
The Arsenal star did say that his international retirement decision was due to racial abuse to him and his family. Ozil met Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in May along with Manchester City player Ilkay Gundogan, a visit which sparked nationwide anger in Germany. While the two German players both maintained that they visited the president due to being of Turkish descent, the German media and the DFB didn't believe this.
Just to put this in perspective, Ozil is probably the most influential midfielder Germany have had in the past few decades. Ozil still has quite a bit of time left at the top of his game and has still got a lot to offer. In fact, he was recently in a major transfer saga due to his playmaking abilities but ended up with a new contract with Arsenal FC.
The German point of view
Mesut Ozil was highly antagonized by the DFB and German media in the run-up to the World Cup and was the player most criticised by Germans after the team was knocked out in the group stages. In particular, DFB president Reinhard Grindel was especially angry at the Turkish-origin footballer, as Ozil revealed in his 3-page essay announcing his international retirement.
While Mesut Ozil also said that key members of German football such as Joachim Low did stand by him, he was a scapegoat for the furious German media, despite being one of the best players the Germans had in their short time in Russia.
The Arsenal star has always played for the Germans to the best of his ability and with pride, but now he says that he no longer feels that pride in playing for Germany unless the current racial abuse is stopped. That does mean that he could return for Germany if the current situation subsides.
The verdict
Mesut Ozil is a one in a million player and another player like him won't come for the Germans for quite a while. For Ozil, this could be a heat of the moment decision, but no footballer, or any person for that matter, should do so much for their country yet get treated in the manner in which Ozil was treated.
In due time, this controversy should cool down, and Ozil could return to Germany and help bring them back to the heights of Brazil and 2014. One thing is for sure: Die Mannschaft will be a far poorer team without their playmaker-in-chief Mesut Ozil.
