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Tag: Mesut Ozil

  • ‘I will always be Turkish’ – Why Mesut Ozil is worshipped in Turkey

    ‘I will always be Turkish’ – Why Mesut Ozil is worshipped in Turkey

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    The Real Madrid star opted to represent Germany over the country of his descent but still enjoys a good standing within the nation, ahead of his trip to Turkey on Tuesday night

    By Yasin Madyb Ilgun

    With a clash between Turkey and Germany in Berlin finely poised at 1-0 with just over 10 minutes remaining, Mesut Ozil raced onto a through-ball and calmly slotted the ball home, prompting a chorus of boos from the away fans.

    It would be easy to assume that Ozil was despised by the nation of his descent due to his decision to represent the Nationalelf but the Real Madrid star has a dedicated group of admirers within Turkey who have tracked his career since his early days.

    After leaving Westfalia 04 as a child amid fears of his ability to compete physically, he eventually made his debut with Schalke. Three good seasons with the Gelsenkirchen outfit won him a move to Werder Bremen and the question of his nationality began to rear its head.

    FIVE OF THE BEST

    ‘Turks’ who never played for Turkey

    MEHMET SCHOLL | GERMANY

    Scholl (born Yuksel) was a brilliantly gifted midfielder, winning Euro ’96 for Germany and a host of trophies with Bayern.

    HAKAN YAKIN | SWITZERLAND

    A Swiss hero, Yakin made 87 appearances for his country, representing them at four tournaments.

    ILKAY GUNDOGAN | GERMANY

    A move from Nurnberg to BVB saw him called up for Germany, the “hardest decision of his life”.

    MESUT OZIL | GERMANY

    Ozil can count himself among the finest players Germany have produced. A star for club and country.

    GOKHAN INLER | SWITZERLAND

    The combative midfielder made his name in Switzerland before moving to Serie A. Now captain of his country.

    Unfortunately for the Turkish public, though, he elected to represent the country of his birth, Germany, at full international level having enjoyed a glittering career with the Nationalelf’s youth ranks.

    Naturally, his decision was met with disappointment but his reasons seemed justified. “I was born and raised in this country. I was successful with their Under-21s and I feel good here. I chose Germany for that reason. There’s no reason why I wouldn’t be successful with them.”

    Despite his ambitions with the three-time World Cup winners, he remains respectful to Turkey: “My family and I will always be Turkish but I was born and I live in Germany. I feel more comfortable in a Germany shirt.”

    When the two countries were pitted against one another in qualifying for Euro 2012, he openly admitted that it was something of a nightmare scenario for him. He said: “I didn’t want a match in Euro 2012 qualification with Turkey. My will is for both teams to feature in the finals.”

    Indeed, when he scored against the Milli Takim in Berlin, he didn’t even break into a smile. He accepted Thomas Muller’s celebrations but ambled begrudgingly back to the halfway line, almost disheartened that he had scored.

    When the time came for the reverse fixture, coach Joachim Low left him out of the first team, citing injury, and as Germany cruised to a 3-1 victory, the camera repeatedly panned to Ozil, who remained ashen-faced throughout, despite claims among the Turkish media that he was feigning injury to avoid playing them.

    While those rumours could have soured his relationship with Turkey, he remains a frequent visitor to the country, fondly recalling childhood memories of visiting family, talking of his relationship with “compatriots” Hamit Altintop and Arda Turan, even meeting Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who made a state visit to Madrid in November.

    And the respect he has shown has won him many fans in the nation. Children idolise him due to his heritage and people are proud to have one of their own as a regular at a club the size of Madrid, something which Ozil himself appreciates.

    “I think that the Turks are proud of me,” he said in 2011. “I have experienced the respect that they have shown for me, and many people accept and respect my decision to play for Germany.”

    With los Blancos in Istanbul on Tuesday to face Galatasaray in the Champions League, he has another chance to impress in front of a Turkish audience. With the tie effectively over after the first leg, not many would begrudge him a goal.

    via ‘I will always be Turkish’ – Why Mesut Ozil is worshipped in Turkey – Goal.com.

  • Özil wants to sit out Turkey football clash

    Özil wants to sit out Turkey football clash

    One of Germany’s high-profile ethnic Turkish footballers, Mesut Özil, has asked to sit out Friday’s match against Turkey to avoid angry Turkish fans – but has been told he has to play.

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    “I love Turkey as much as I do Germany,” he told Turkish daily newspaper Radikal.

    “Even though we have already qualified, for me this will be the most difficult match of the competition.”

    But the German Football Association (DFB) rejected his request to sit out the match, saying it could encourage bad habits, Radikal reported.

    German-born Özil is often held up as a brilliant example of integration, yet when he first played for Germany against Turkey last year in Berlin he was booed by Turkish supporters, one of whom held up a placard reading, “We could’ve been cheering for you, Özil!”

    The 23-year-old midfielder told Radikal on Wednesday that the booing last year had scuppered him, and that he had asked the DFB to sit out Friday’s match at Istanbul’s Türk Telekom Arena.

    Although Germany has already qualified for the Euro 2012 finals, Turkey needs to do well in order to go through and Özil could face a sea of angry Turkish fans if things do not go their way.

    Most of the player’s extended family still live in Turkey, so he explained to Radikal that he was aware of the prejudices many Turks still hold against him and that he would expect to be jeered at again.

    His father Mustafa also spoke with Radikal.

    “Özil is no different from [German born, Turkish players] Nuri, Hamit or Mehmet, but circumstances took them to the Turkish team and him the German. I wish people would accept his decision,” he said.

    “In Germany today there are Turkish politicians in the Bundestag and Turkish professors in the universities. We Turks came here 50 years ago as guest workers and brought skills to contribute to the country. My son is a part of this and Turkey should be proud of him.”

    Yet Özil sat out training on Wednesday, citing Achilles tendon pain, and has yet to train with the squad. Coach Joachim Löw has said a decision would be made about his fitness on Thursday; just 24 hours before the match.

    Undefeated so far, Guus Hiddink’s team qualified following a 6 – 2 victory against Austria, and will be heading to the finals in Poland and Ukraine next year. Riding on a wave of nine consecutive victories, Hiddink said “I can see very few weaknesses [in the German team].”

    However Löw admitted, “We have in fact a few question marks over our players,” as key strikers Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose are suffering from injuries. Their potential absence from the field could benefit Turkey, whose ticket to the finals still hangs in the balance despite two home wins in their string of six undefeated matches.

    Turkey needs a better result against Germany than Belgium gets against Kazakhstan.

    Turkish Left-back Gokhan Gonul said, “We know the power of Germany; they come with an unbeaten record in the group. We know it will be difficult, but not impossible.”

    Özil told Radikal that he hoped, “Turkey reaches the next round in the Euro 2012 competition.”

    The Local/AFP/jcw

    via Özil wants to sit out Turkey football clash – The Local.

  • Ozil: I can handle Turkish flak

    Ozil: I can handle Turkish flak

    Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil is not afraid of being jeered by Turkey fans in Friday’s Euro 2012 qualifying match between the two teams.

    ozilOzil was born in the German city of Gelsenkirchen and, despite coming from a Turkish family, he chose to represent the country of his birth despite attempts by Turkey to lure him into their national team.

    The 22-year-old will play an international fixture in Istanbul for the first time this week, but intends to treat it just like any other.

    “It is possible that people whistle, but that does not affect me,” he told Kicker magazine.

    “I can deal with such situations professionally and block it out.”

    Ozil scored for Germany against Turkey in Berlin almost a year ago, but out of respect for his relatives he did not celebrate.

    That did not stop the Turkey fans from hurling abuse at him, but Ozil suspects that deep down they actually respect what he has achieved.

    “I think that the Turks are proud of me,” he said. “They are proud to have a regular at Real Madrid.

    “I have experienced the respect that they have shown for that and many people accept and respect my decision to play for Germany.”

    Nevertheless, Ozil will not be offering Turkey any gifts on Friday as he hopes to lead Germany through the qualifying stage without dropping a point.

    “We want to remain unbeaten; that is the aim that we all have,” he said.

    Ozil should be fit to play on Friday and against Belgium in Dusseldorf four days later, despite being removed from Real Madrid’s 4-0 win over Espanyol last night with an ankle injury.

    None of Germany coach Joachim Low’s 24-man squad have been forced to pull out due to injury.

    via Ozil: I can handle Turkish flak | GeneralNews | Soccer 365.

  • Valdano :Real Madrid ‘s Turkey trio will be succesful

    Valdano :Real Madrid ‘s Turkey trio will be succesful

    General Manager of Real Madrid, Jorge Valdano is sure that Real Madrid ‘s Turkey trio of Mesut Ozil, Nuri Sahin and new recruit Hamit Altintop will be successful. Real Madrid Transfers..

    Nuri Sahin and Hamit Altintop two newest additions to Real Madrid Turkish delights
    Nuri Sahin and Hamit Altintop two newest additions to Real Madrid Turkish delights

    Last year was the year of Fifa World Cup. Not many players emerged as stars in the most glorious football event in the world. A starlet however shoved himself, glimpsed in the German National team jersey. Mesut Ozil, a turkish-german player showed impressive attacking qualities, accurate long and short passes and some enjoyable goals on deadly shots. He must have impressed Real Madrid board and manager Jose Mourinho, so they have signed him for a 5 year contract at the end of that season. He was the first footballer with turkish ancestors to play for the mighty Real Madrid.

    The coming season will welcome two more turkish players for Real Madrid, both play for Turkey National Team, increasing the total numbers of turkish players in the Real Madrid squad to 3.

    Valdano guarantees Real Madrid’s Turkish Connection will succeedJorge Valdano on turkish transfers Sahin Altintop

    Jorge Valdano, the general manager of Real Madrid for football operations stated yesterday in a telephone interview with NationalTurk, they expect the three Turks to be successful in their Real Madrid carriers. Valdano, manager Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid transfer comitee decided to transfer Turkey players Nuri Sahin and Hamit Altintop and pulled the trigger for the moves, after Mesut Ozil had a very good season with Real Madrid. Valdano said that they were more than pleased by Mesut Ozil ‘s performance in his debut season and decided to land two additional Turkish Players in order to increase the coherence of Mesut Ozil in the team.

    Jose Mourinho approved the transfers of Nuri Sahin and Hamit Altintop

    Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho wanted these players to play for him the next season, Valdano commented. They have watched Nuri Sahin’s progress as a floor leader for a couple seasons. This season Nuri Sahin have played a vital role in Borussia Dortmund’s title run in Bundesliga, emerging as one of the star footballers in the German leauge, just like Mesut Ozil in the previous season.

    The acquire of Hamit Altintop also was Jose Mourinho approved, added the Real Madrid GM, Altintop’s résumé speaks for itself. Hamit Altintop ‘s 4 year spell with Bayern Munich contains many successful moments. He won two Bundesliga titles and two German Cups, as well as helping the Bavarians reach last season’s Champions League final. Mixed with the fact that Hamit Altintop transfer is free, Valdano stated in the press conference, his capture is a bargain and shows the changing transfer policy of Real Madrid.

    In the Spanish La Liga, teams are ‘not allowed to register more than 3 non EU players. All three turkish players are dual citizens, thus are eligible as EU players, which played a key factor for their respective transfers to Real Madrid.

     

    A NationalTurk special article. Cannot be used without NationalTurk reference.

    via Valdano :Real Madrid ‘s Turkey trio will be succesful / Real Madrid Transfers.