A month and a half
maxbet after posing in a photo next to the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and after criticising the actions of the media and the federation in that controversy, Mesut Ozil has announced he is retiring from international football.Ozil, 29 years old and until now a key player for Joachim Low's side, decided to take that picture because, if he had refused, it would have been seen as a lack of respect towards his Turkish roots.The image was interpreted as explicit support for the campaign for the re-election of the Turkish president, who has a very tense relationship with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.Low decided to keep both him and Ilkay Gundogan in the national team and Merkel herself expressed at one point her desire that the fans stop booing every time both went on the pitch. Oliver Bierhoff, and the president of the German Football Federation (DFB), Reinhard Grindel,
maxbet reproached them afterwards claiming that they had not explained their behaviour before the World Cup.Ozil suggested in response that he would've taken that picture with a Turkish president regardless of who he was, and stated that he is simply a football player, not a politician. He also maintained that Erdogan spoke "exclusively football" with him, and to remember that the only time he had met with the Turkish president before was precisely along with Merkel, during a match between the German and Turkish teams.Criticising the media strongly, as well as the DFB for their lack of support, ensured that Ozil's retirement comes as no surprise.
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