Identity in the Trap: Both Faces of Mesut Ozil

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He looks apathetic, but he is also full of passion. Some believe he is a selfish person, but his actions for the community have proven otherwise. Many people dislike him, but quite a few also adore him devoutly. Mesut Ozil He is one of the most complex figures in world football in the last decade. As befits a man whose ambivalence is his second name, the star has two identities that cause him happiness, but also make his life a Turkish film. “I have two hearts, one German and one Turkish,” Ozil said after retiring from the German national team in the summer of 2018.

Alongside or due to this complexity, Ozil has shown over the years that only through warmth and faith does he succeed in presenting his genius. Like a protected flower, it needs the right environment and appropriate conditions otherwise it will simply become extinct. The midfielder, who has been on a crash course since parting ways with the club, realized it was time to get back to his roots and start over in a place that enveloped him in love even in difficult times, agreed to give up the last six months on his astronomical contract at Arsenal (£ 7.7 million). In the previous three years.

His arrival led to a madness never seen before for a footballer. More than 300,000 people watched in suspense the route of his flight from London to Istanbul. It could be seen that even for Ozil it was a particularly exciting moment. His eyes twinkled with pride as he presented to the world the scarf of his new team. “My dream came true because I was a Fenerbahce fan from a young age,” the contact revealed. ‘I thank the fans of the team, they were always there to support me. I’m so happy. ‘


To understand how Ozil got into the current situation, from one of the best players in the Premier League to an allotment that Arsenal have prayed for the day he will leave, one has to go back a few years. The start in London could not have been better. The star was compared to Zidane and led the Gunners to a bachelor’s degree after eight difficult years. Along with the countless cooks, Ozil has shown instability at times, and the decline of Arsene Wenger’s project has changed his narrative. In fact, the departure of the Frenchman and the crash in the 2018 World Cup were the door to the deep abyss at the sporting level, from which he has a hard time getting out to this day.

In those years, Ozil received quite a few criticisms, but they were nothing compared to the character murder committed in Germany after the painful relegation from the World Cup. Just four years earlier he had led the team to a fourth title win in football. The marvelous performances in Brazil have made him one of the most beloved people in the country. Many saw the same team as a symbol and pride of integration in German society with players like Sami Khedira (Tunisian roots), Miroslav Klose and Lucas Podolski (Polish roots), Jerome Boateng (Ghanaian roots), Shkodran Mustafi (Albanian roots) and of course Ozil.

A few weeks before the 2018 tournament, Ozil was photographed at a major event in London along with Turkey’s controversial ruler, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Much of the German public did not like to see the two together. They believed he was behind him in the election campaign. Why is it so exciting to them? Relations between Erdogan and Germany have never been warm, to put it mildly. The president even called the country a “Nazi” when it banned politicians from holding political rallies near the Turkish elections.

After the defeat in Brazil, Ozil became a scapegoat, not only of the fans and the media, but also of senior figures like perhaps Hans and Luther Mathews. Even the president of the association, Reinhard Grindel, marked him as guilty and claimed that he should not have been invited to the tournament because of the same picture with Erdogan. He was hurt, but did not remain obligated, reminding Grindel of his harsh statements from the past: “Multiculturalism is a myth and a lie,” “The culture of Islam is too prevalent in many German cities.” Simultaneously with the campaign of slander, he realized that there was no escape from separation and he published three long letters, in which he poured all that was on his heart. “I’m German when we win, but immigrant when we lose,” the star ached.

To be honest, this was not a complete surprise for him. The difficulties in German society began at a fairly young age. Although Ozil is the third generation of immigrants in Gelsenkirchen, until the age of five he spoke only Turkish. “Even today I have to concentrate when I speak German,” the star admitted. Luckily for him, his genius with the ball opened many doors for him down the road and also got his family out of the cycle of poverty.

Against the background of the extraordinary celebrations in Istanbul in recent days, there were also quite a few voices that received Ozil with contempt. Of course the political connection was the first to emerge, and many people argued that this was the main agenda stemming from the move. Although Erdogan is currently linked to Bashkekhir, the Turkish president has a long history with the Blue Yellows, and many reports have claimed that a phone call with him caused Ozil to give up a nice offer from the MLS.

To remind you, the President of Turkey was Ozil’s best man at his wedding two years ago in the Bosphorus. Beyond that, the fact that he became the biggest earner at the club despite the economic crisis caused outrage, and some reports claimed that a political factor helped the team with the deal. The same hypotheses quickly stirred the public and the word “politikabacha” became a trend on Twitter.

If that was not enough, even his belief in Islam was put to the test. An innocent post with a quote from a prophet associated with the Salafi current was smoothly received by some Turks, who expected him to use a prophet appropriate to his background. The country also recalled the time he gave up his Turkish passport to play for the German national team, accusing him of treason.

However, the vast majority of the Turkish people support Ozil. His genius on the field alongside social activism and the total love for their country made him a source of inspiration and a symbol of a better future. Now, all that is left is for the love story to yield results on the lawn as well. The tormented Fenerbahce fans have not won the title for nearly eight years and they will be happy to break this negative streak. Currently the team is in second place, two points less than Besiktas.

Although Ozil has not been a partner in official games for almost a year, he has not lost the touch of the ball. Former Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho summed up his uniqueness by saying: “Every time he touches the ball, the ball smiles.” All that’s left is to relax in an armchair and watch the resurgence of one of the most exciting players we’ve seen in the past decade.

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