After almost two decades in business, Mesut Ozil finally decided to hang up his boots. The footballer himself announced it on Twitter and Instagram. After careful consideration, I hereby announce my immediate retirement from professional soccer. I have had the privilege of being a professional soccer player for almost 17 years and I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity. In recent weeks and months, which have also included some injuries, it has become increasingly clear that it was time to leave the big stage,” the 34-year-old told his supporters.
Born in Gelsenkirchen (Germany), Özil made his professional debut with the Schalke 04 of the Bundesliga in 2006. In the following years, Özil became one of the best German footballers. In 2009, he made his debut for the German national team. That same year, he was proclaimed European champion with the German U-21 team. Özil played a total of 92 international matches for the Die Mannschaft team, participated in three World Cups and scored 23 goals during this time. Mesut Ozil is also one of the footballers with the most assists in football history. The German has a total of 262 assists and 137 goals in his entire career. He was top assistant in a LaLiga season, Premier League, Euro Cup, World Cup, Bundesliga, Champions League y Europa League. In a single season with Arsenal, he came to give 21 assists.
The first rumors of his retirement already circulated in February, but Özil denied them at the time. In his professional career, Mesut Özil played in the Schalke 04 and the Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga. After the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Özil had the opportunity to grow as a footballer at the Real Madrid, where he was champion of LaLiga and the Copa Del Rey. After three seasons, Özil moved to Arsenal in the Premier League. In seven and a half years with the Gunners he won titles such as the FA Cup -four times- and the FA title Community Shield twice. In January 2021, the footballer left London and joined Fenerbahce. After just 18 months, this chapter was already over and he decided to change teams in his home country: he signed for Basaksehir FK, which is precisely where his long career ended.
At the selection level, Mesut Özil can boast of being World Champion with Germany in Brazil 2014. However, one of his worst moments was resigning from the national team for political reasons. After the surprise preliminary round of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Özil raised serious accusations against the DFB and its then president, Reinhard Grindel. The reason for the dispute was a photo of Mesut Özil and Ilkay Gundogan together with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which was made public one day before the provisional squad for the World Cup was nominated.