‘I don’t care what others say’, says Germany’s Ozil

Mesut Ozil: Scores winner for Germany

Mesut Ozil has dismissed criticism of his Euro 2016 performances and claimed he only cares what the coach Joachim Low thinks.

Mehmet Scholl was one ex-player who singled out Ozil after Germany’s uninspiring 0-0 draw with Poland, citing the Arsenal man’s body language as a hindrance to his country.

“To be honest, I don’t care what others say,” Ozil told Bild. “There will always be people who voice their opinion, mostly it’s negative. I don’t know if they have to say it or not. When a former player or whoever wants to make headlines, it just bounces off me.

“Like I said, the coach’s opinion matters: Mr Low tells me the truth.

“How much we run, how many springs, you can ask the Bundestrainer, I am always in the top five. The other thing is just personal, it’s aura. We are all in our own skin.

“I never wanted to prove anything, neither to me nor the people. It was always my goal to help the team. There’s a minority of fans and a few journalists who only measure me by how many goals I’ve scored or created. But a game lasts 90 minutes. And what I do there – the ground I cover, my passes, the chances I create – sometimes just does not interest. But to me it matters what the coach thinks of me.”

Ozil, who brilliantly laid on Bastian Schweinsteiger’s goal in Germany’s 2-0 win over Ukraine last week at Euro 2016, was also criticised by Germany defender Jerome Boateng after they drew a blank against Poland.

“We did not win any one-on-one duels in attack. There was not a lot of movement – it just wasn’t enough,” said Boateng.

The comments did not impress the Arsenal man though, who made a sarcastic response: “That’s his opinion. He certainly knows how to play attacking football.”