A boy from Gelsenkirchen, a superstar at Werder Bremen, Real Madrid and Arsenal, world champion with the German national team in 2014 – and yet he has long been an attractive figure.

Mesut Özil, once a symbol of successful integration in Germany for Angela Merkel, was later described by AfD politician Alice Weidel as a “product of failed integration”. Or is he a victim of “racism,” as his camp still claims today?

Özil’s cabin photo with Merkel – for some integration, for others betrayal

Mesut Özil was born in Gelsenkirchen, but had Turkish citizenship thanks to his father, who grew up in Turkey. He passed this in 2007 in order to become a German citizen and be able to play for the DFB team.

An unusual decision at the time, which caused a lot of anger among Turkish fans.

While some of them insulted Özil to the worst, the aspiring mega-talent was made into an “example of successful integration” in Germany, as Dietrich Schulze-Marmeling, author of the book “The Özi Case”, says in the ZDF documentary.

After a victory for the German national team – against Turkey, of all places – the then Chancellor Angela Merkel went to the players’ locker room and shook the hand of the shirtless Özil.

The resulting photo went around the world – for the Germans as a symbol of their cosmopolitan country, for the Turks as a betrayal. Later it was again a photo with a head of state that brought the controversial exceptional talent into the headlines. This time it was even more extreme.

Özil “actually didn’t want to straighten out” the picture

In May 2018, Mesut Özil and Ilkay Gündogan were photographed together with the highly controversial Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – shortly before important elections in Turkey, but also the early elimination of the German national team from the upcoming World Cup.

Dietrich Schulze-Marmeling says: “Just as Angela Merkel previously exploited Mesut Özil with a photo, it happened a second time with Erdogan.” The result: an outcry in German society, new integration debates, ever louder racism.

The then national coach Joachim Löw remembers in the ZDF documentary the moment when the photo was made public the day before the squad was nominated for the World Cup: “Somehow Mesut couldn’t be reached by phone at first.”

Ultimately there should be a clarifying conversation, but while Gündogan is said to have tried “very hard” to “correct the wrong picture,” as Oliver Bierhoff says, Özil “actually didn’t want that at all.”

“What we experienced afterwards only had to do with racism”

The star player continued to keep a low profile, refused interviews and thus annoyed his teammates, “because of course they are also asked in interviews,” explains Oliver Bierhoff. According to journalist Philipp Selldorf, this caused “a break within the team”.

Mesut Özil was made a scapegoat by fans for the subsequent failure at the 2018 World Cup.

“What we experienced afterwards has nothing to do with the photo. It only has to do with racism,” says Özil’s advisor Erkut Söğüt, recalling the emotional outbursts in parts of society that exceeded all boundaries.

“Was disappointed”: Löw openly about Özil’s statement after Erdogan’s photo

Jogi Löw admits in the ZDF documentary that he has Özil’s “whole Never read the press release and the reasons. Because, firstly, it was too long for me and secondly, I was disappointed at that moment because I didn’t actually hear it from him personally.”

Former teammate Per Mertesacker describes the end as one “that he didn’t deserve” and ultimately saw “no winners at all” in the case.

Özil, described by Löw in the film as “one of the very, very best national players that Germany has ever had in terms of football”, was burned to death in Germany. Internationally, he no longer performed as usual for Arsenal and ultimately moved to Turkey in 2021. He ended his professional career there in 2023 and has continued to live in Turkey since then.

Today, the once celebrated 2014 World Cup hero only occasionally attracts attention in the form of scandals, such as anti-Semitic social media posts or a tattoo of the “Gray Wolves” on his chest, which is known as a symbol of the right-wing extremist Ülkücü movement.

• According to ZDF, Mesut Özil himself did not agree to an interview for the documentary despite requests. “Mesut Özil – visiting friends” can be seen on ZDF on Tuesday, March 31st, from 8:15 p.m. and can be watched in advance in the ZDF media library from Friday, March 20th, 10 a.m.

By Gianluca Reucher