{UAH} Mesut Özil’s Germany saga is symptomatic of a world under strain( A message for the house slaves in France and Belgium)
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Mesut Özil's Germany saga is symptomatic of a world under strain
When a Radio 5 Live newsreader referred to "the English rider Geraint Thomas" in an item on the Tour de France this week, the response from those with Welsh blood in their veins ranged from a pained wince to a weary shrug. It was ignorant. It was annoying. But no one was going to war over it.
In other countries and other sports the question of national identity can provoke very different reactions. This week, for instance, Mesut Özil announced his retirement from international football over the response in Germany – and from the head of the DFB, the German football association, in particular – to a row that began when he posed for a photograph with the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in London in May.
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Özil's grandfather moved from Turkey to Germany as a gastarbeiter in the 1970s, settling in Gelsenkirchen, in the industrial Ruhr, where Mesut was born in 1988. His mother, he says, taught him not to forget where he came from. "I have two hearts," he wrote in a statement responding to the initial furore, "one German and one Turkish."
Erdogan was in London to visit the Queen and Theresa May. In itself, plenty of people were unhappy about that. While dismantling the secular state established by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk almost 100 years ago, he puts dissenting journalists in prison and calls them terrorists. Still, it seemed to be acceptable for the monarch and her prime minister to have their photograph taken with him on his visit to London. But not a footballer who was born to Turkish parents and has lived in Britain for the past five years.
Depending on our political perspective, you or I might recoil from the thought of standing alongside such an autocrat. But we might also try to understand the choice made by Özil – and by another man in the offending photograph, Ilkay Gündoğan, the Manchester City player and a fellow member of the German World Cup squad, whose grandfather also moved from Turkey to Gelsenkirchen, and who was invited to London to meet Erdogan.
Özil's explanation for his decision was calm and lucid. "Not meeting the president would have been disrespecting the roots of my ancestors, who I know would be proud of where I am today," he said. "For me, it didn't matter who was president, it mattered that it was the president."
Had he gone on to play brilliantly in the World Cup, and had Germany as a result made a respectable defence of the title he helped them to win four years ago, all of it would now be forgotten, or at least ignored. But he did not. Yet although he was far from the only one to blame for the team's disastrous showing, he was chosen as its symbol – most publicly by Reinhard Grindel, the president of the DFB, who had wanted him out of the squad before they left for Russia but who had been dissuaded by Joachim Löw, the head coach, and Oliver Bierhoff, the team's off-the-field manager.
Löw and Bierhoff had the support of Frank-Walter Steinmaier, the president of the German federal republic. After the initial row Steinmaier had met Özil, listened sympathetically to his story, and issued – apparently to Grindel's dismay – a joint statement with the player.
Failure in Russia provided the excuse for renewal of the criticisms, and not just by Grindel and the keyboard warriors of the social media. Uli Hoeness, the Bayern Munich president and a World Cup winner during his playing days, also piled in. "For me Mesut Özil has been a poor excuse for a footballer for years," he said. "He should ask himself when he last won a tackle." Nothing there about Thomas Müller, a Bayern player who also disappointed in Russia.
"In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters, I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose," Özil said in a new statement on Sunday. "Despite paying taxes in Germany, donating facilities to German schools and winning the World Cup with Germany in 2014, I am still not accepted into society."
The affair is symptomatic of a world under strain. During the World Cup two Switzerland players of Kosovan descent, Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka, were fined by Fifa for making the sign of the Albanian double eagle after scoring against Serbia, Kosovo's enemy in the war of 1998-99. Even the ultimate champions were forced to listen to complaints inside their own country that the World Cup had been won by an "African" team. When a website tweeted a list of France's squad members with the name of each player accompanied by the flag representing his family's origin, the full-back Benjamin Mendy answered by reposting the list with each flag replaced by the tricolore. "Fixed," he added.
To Germany's Islamophobes and extreme right, Turkish immigrants like the Özils and the Gündoğans are guest workers who never did the decent thing and went back. Some in Britain feel the same way about our Afro-Caribbean and South Asian populations: they worked in our hospitals, on our buses and in our sweat-shops, and now it's time for them to go "home". And yet a squad containing 11 players of black or mixed ethnicity went to Russia and restored pride in the idea of an England team. For once, multiculturalism seemed to regain the upper hand.
Sadly, in a polarising world, the suspicion must be that it's all paper-thin. As France's celebrations died down last week, L'Equipe's cartoonist depicted a wife saying to her TV-watching husband, "I thought the World Cup of football was over," and getting the reply: "Yes, but the World Cup of bullshit has just begun."
- 1 hour ago
Herr Grindel needs to put what minute brain he has into gear before trying to emulate one of his forefathers , ( Adolf ).. He is preaching racial hatred with his rantings about Ozil and co . Ozil was by no means the worse German playing in all their games. - 53 minutes ago
For football he want to be German but politically he wants to be Turkish !
Eric: Herr Grindel needs to put what minute brain he has into gear before trying to emulate one of his forefathers , ( Adolf ).. He is preaching racial hatred with his rantings about Ozil and co . Ozil was by no means the worse German playing in all their games.
Maurizio Sarri era begins with Pedro winner as Chelsea edge past Perth Glory
Chelsea made a winning start to life under Maurizio Sarri as Perth Glory were beaten at the Optus Stadium.
New signing Jorginho was handed a start just nine days after arriving from Napoli in a deal worth £57 million and immediately looked at home as 'Sarri-ball' began at the Blues.
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Cesc Fabregas captained a side which also included the likes of David Luiz, Pedro, Alvaro Morata and Pedro from the off but the standout player of the first half for Callum Hudson-Odoi.
A young player with a point to prove, Hudson-Odoi created the chance for Pedro's opening goal with fine work down the left before finding the Spaniard in the centre to volley home after just five minutes.
Chelsea controlled the game thereon, with Jorginho and Fabregas dictating from the centre of the pitch. Jorginho was withdrawn at half-time with 101 touches and 98 successful passes during his first 45 minutes as a Chelsea player.
The Blues looked to press their advantage after the break and both Barkley, having been pushed further forward, and Fabregas hit the post before the hour mark.
Barkley carved out space on the left, after Hudson-Odoi had been withdrawn, and found Pedro in the centre but the latter's volley was well saved.
The former Everton nearly opened his account for his club when latching onto Cesar Azpilicueta blocked shot, but his off-balance shot from six yards was wayward.
Sarri continued to refresh his squad throughout the game as the likes of Tiemoue Bakayoko, Tomas Kalas, Charly Musonda and Emerson all on the pitch come full-time.
- 58 minutes agoso , Chelski the mighty have accounted for Perth Glory. everybody shake in your boots Sarri is coming for you
José Mourinho would only sell Martial to non-Premier League club
José Mourinho will only consider selling Anthony Martial for the right fee, with Manchester United's manager preferring that the Frenchman move to a club outside the Premier League rather than to a direct rival.
Mourinho had been minded not to allow the forward to depart but has shifted his stance. The Portuguese has reluctantly decided that if Martial does not wish to play for United then his leaving the club should at least be explored.
The domestic transfer window closes on 9 August, the day before United's Premier League season opener with Leicester City at Old Trafford. Mourinho has stated that Martial is likely to feature in the game. If he is to be sold Mourinho's first-choice is for it to be to a club on the continent. The window in Europe's major leagues closes on 31 August, with the one in Martial's native France not closing until mid-September.
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Martial has a year left on his contract and the club has the option of adding another 12 months. If United activate that option it would markedly increase his market value. Martial cost an initial £36m that rises to £58m if all the clauses in his terms are met. It is likely the bidding from any suitors for the player would start at £50m.
Martial has become disillusioned at United, losing the automatic starting berth he enjoyed in his first season under Louis van Gaal, having signed in summer 2015. The 22-year-old believed he needs to leave Old Trafford to reinvigorate his career.
- 3 hours ago
Has anyone been knocked over in the rush to sign him? - 3 hours ago
PSG? - 3 hours ago
So, Mourinho knows that Martial has the potential to be a really good player - possibly be a world class player - but instead of putting forth the effort to get him to that level, he'd rather sell him so somebody else can make him great then he'll buy him back at an overinflated rate. Sound management decision if I ever did hear one!
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