Reclusive Ozil steps into Oxford spotlight

ARSENAL midfielder Mesut Ozil is one of the most unlikely Premier League footballers to be invited to speak to the Oxford Union.

Ozil is listed on the Union’s calendar as addressing the prestigious chamber on tuesday February 20 at 5pm during a europa League week, giving him plenty of time to travel to Oxford after training.

the 29-year-old is a surprising choice bearing in mind that he has virtually shunned the media during the five years since his £42million transfer from real Madrid, rarely showing any desire to speak to TV, radio or press.

and he is still uncomfortable speaking english, preferring to converse in his native German.

Other sporting figures who have spoken at the Oxford Union include former FIFA president sepp Blatter, diego Maradona, Brian Lara, andrew strauss, George Foreman and Boris Becker.

lJOSE MOURINHO’S cousin Ricardo Mourinho Felix, who is representing Portugal at next week’s Eurogroup meeting of finance ministers, is now known as the Special Two.

AUSTRALIAN compatriots eddie Jones and trevor Bayliss had both vowed to quit their roles coaching the england rugby union and cricket teams in 2019. and Jones (right) had regularly insisted you would find him watching cricket in the caribbean after the rugby World cup next year. But the difference is that the understated Bayliss will surely keep to his word, while the overstated Jones has now agreed to stay on for two more years.

intriguingly Jones, who normally has an answer for every question, would not comment yesterday when asked whether his ‘abrasive’ style of management is best suited to one exhaustive fouryear term and the specific goal of winning the World cup rather than any extension deal.

lFORMULA

ONE charity Grand Prix Trust came to the rescue of former BBC F1 commentator Jonathan Legard, who found himself in intensive care in a French hospital with pneumonia and pleurisy on a family holiday. The trust arranged for Legard to return by ambulance from the French Alps to a private hospital in London and he is now recovering at home. He said: ‘I cannot thank everyone involved in the trust enough.’ Curiously, trust chairman and top F1 pundit Martin Brundle, who helped organise Legard’s return, was part of the reason Legard lost his F1 commentary role eight years ago. The all-powerful Brundle didn’t feel their TV partnership worked.