Germany makes Ozil its WCup scapegoat

SAME coach, same team manager, same president.

And yet after almost two weeks of reflection, the German soccer federation, or DFB, appears to have decided midfielder Mesut Ozil is the main culprit for the team’s shock early World Cup exit.

Team manager Oliver Bierhoff wondered in a newspaper interview if Ozil should even have been taken to Russia, while DFB president Reinhard Grindel followed up by demanding the player provide an “answer”.

Joachim Loew has not commented on the matter since deciding to stay on as coach.

Ozil, long a key player for Loew, has been in the firing line since he and teammate Ilkay Gundogan posed for photos with Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May. Both German-born players have Turkish roots.

While Gundogan attempted to distance himself from the incident in Britain, Ozil has maintained his silence — antagonizing the same people who said the issue had been dealt with before the World Cup.

“Only DFB officials can come up with the idea that a photo with Erdogan is responsible for a defeat against football-giant South Korea,” North Rhine-Westphalia minister president Armin Laschet said on Twitter.

Following Germany’s first-round exit, Bierhoff told Die Welt it might have been better to omit Ozil from the tournament. Bierhoff pulled back after criticism, saying it was a misunderstanding and he did not intend to single out any player for the team’s failure.

But Grindel kept the issue alive, telling the latest edition of Kicker magazine: “It’s true that Mesut has not commented yet. That has disappointed a lot of fans because they have questions and expect an answer. They are right to expect this answer.”

Grindel has received just as much criticism as Bierhoff did. The Berliner Zeitung newspaper accused the DFB chief of “throwing oil on the fire to shine a good light on himself”.

The DFB itself arguably made the Erdogan-photo affair worse with its public admonishment of Gundogan and Ozil. Grindel was scathing in his criticism of the players, who were summoned for talks.

Ozil was not the only player to underperform in Russia, where defending champion Germany was knocked out after defeats to Mexico and South Korea. But his performances have come under the most scrutiny because of the Erdogan photos and because of his profile within the team.

German comedian Oliver Pocher impersonated Ozil with large fake eyes, saying he was going “home” on vacation and listing off the Turkish cities he was going to visit.

Far-right politicians have been slating the player, while journalist Claus Strunz said “Mesut Ozil does not belong to Germany” after noting he does not sing the anthem.

“No DFB official has condemned the racist comments against Ozil,” the Schwaebische Zeitung newspaper said.

Ozil’s father, Mustafa, told the Bild tabloid Bierhoff’s statements were “an affront”.

Mustafa Ozil, who fell out with his son in 2013, suggested a racial motive for the attacks. “Unfortunately there are still people in the German population who have reservations and prejudices against us of Turkish descent. In Mesut’s place I’d resign (from the team). But that’s just my personal opinion.”