Lent.az
Eight years after the dispute between former German national player Mesut Özil and the German Football Association (DFB), Joachim Löw, who was the team's head coach at the time, reacted to the statement regarding the end of the Turkish-origin German footballer's career in the Bundesliga.
"I never read the entire press release and the reasons given. Firstly, it was too long for me, and secondly, I was very disappointed at the time because I didn't hear all of this from him personally," - Lent.az reports, citing foreign media, that Löw said in ZDF's documentary "Mesut Özil – Guest Among Friends" (Mesut Özil – zu Gast bei Freunden).
The former head coach of the national team also called it a disgrace that Özil did not participate in the last meeting organized by the winners of the 2014 World Championship in Brazil.
"Mesut currently lives in Turkey and rarely, or very rarely, visits Germany," said Löw, calling Özil "one of Germany's best national team players ever."
ZDF's three-part documentary about Özil will be broadcast on March 20, and the first episode will be broadcast on March 31. According to the channel, Özil refused to be interviewed for the documentary.
What was Özil's conflict with the German Football Association?
In May 2018, shortly before the start of that year's World Cup, two players of the German national team, Mesut Özil and İlkay Gündoğan, unexpectedly met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and took a picture together. In Germany, this gesture was seen as support for the Turkish leader's policies and was condemned.
Both Özil and Gündoğan eventually went to the World Cup, but Germany failed and could not get out of the group, which included Mexico, Sweden, and South Korea. After increasing criticism, Mesut Özil accused the German Football Federation of racism and disrespect for his roots: "I am a German when we win, but an immigrant when we lose."
He later announced his retirement from the national team.
