Mesut Ozil, the former German football player, described winning the 2014 World Cup as the “best night” of his career, and revealed that he had recently met Joachim Loew, the former national team coach, after a bitter end to his career with the national team.
Ozil, who announced the end of his career at the age of 34 earlier this week, said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper “Marca” published on Friday: I do not want to add more fuel to the fire regarding my retirement from international football in 2018.
In his retirement statement on Wednesday, Ozil mentioned all the clubs he played for, namely Schalke 04, Bremen, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Fenerbahce and Basaksehir, but did not mention the national team.
Ozil played 92 matches for the German national team from 2009 to 2018 and won the World Cup that was held in Brazil nine years ago.
Ozil retired from international football after the German national team was eliminated from the group stage in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, after he was severely criticized for his performance.
These criticisms resulted in a strong reaction from Ozil, as he accused the German Football Association of not protecting him enough against racism and insulting comments, while accusing the German Football Association of racism.
Loew, who was coach of the national team until 2021, said on several occasions that he tried in vain to communicate with Ozil in the following years.
Ozil told Marca: I don’t want to add more fuel to the fire. In the end, the DFB and I had different opinions, which is why I left the national team after the 2018 World Cup.
He added: Several weeks ago, I had a very friendly meeting in Stuttgart with Joachim Loew. Things are fine between us again. I never had a personal problem with him, and we had a great time together. I just wanted some space away from everything around the national team after the 2018 World Cup.
Ozil recalled the night when Germany beat Argentina nine years ago in Rio de Janeiro to win the World Cup.
“There have been many amazing victories in my career,” he said. But this victory was different.
He added: During the celebrations, it was very difficult to think of what had just happened. The night in Rio was the best night of my footballing career. Even now, I still laugh and get goosebumps if I think about this match. It’s a great memory.
