Friday 17th September 2021
Lots of hatred on returning home
The anger at Özil is still huge
Well over 1000 days have passed since Mesut Özil retired from the national team. Joachim Löw is no longer national coach, Reinhard Grindel has long ceased to be DFB president, and Özil has not played a competitive game in Germany since then – until Thursday evening, when he played 1-1 (1-1) for his club Fenerbahce Istanbul in Europe League at Eintracht Frankfurt and scored a goal. This is how Özil’s emotionally charged evening went in the World Cup arena in Frankfurt:
Before the game: The friendly words that Kevin Trapp spoke on Wednesday about the 2014 world champion did not want the Eintracht fans in the stadium to share. “He’s a football star. He’s well-known, he performed well. He became world champion with the national team and played a big part in it,” said Trapp in old solidarity. In the stadium? Loud whistles when only Özil’s name is called out. The whistle is particularly loud when the 32-year-old can be seen on the video cube in the stadium.
The initial phase: But Özil starts strong on the lawn, initiating several dangerous actions for the guests. First he put a crossbar hit from Mert Yandas, then he was just right after a rebound and completed from a tight angle to 1-0 lead. At this early point in the Europa League group game, he had made the long-awaited return.
Die Bierbecherwürfe: After the break, the aversion moved closer to Özil. For his (that evening consistently harmless) standards, the former world-class professional now stepped in front of the Eintracht curve, where several beer mugs flew in his direction onto the lawn. Individual Frankfurt fans leaned particularly far over the barrier to shout loudly at Özil.
The early substitution: After 76 minutes of play, Özil’s working day was over. While the Fenerbahce fans cheered, there was a final whistle concert from the Eintracht supporters. Dimitrios Pelkas came into play for the former German international. The Joker failed in stoppage time with a penalty to Trapp. And Özil chatted with fellow world champion Erik Durm after the final whistle. “We had a very, very nice time together in 2014. Mesut is a great boy,” commented Durm.
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