LOW POINT
Mesut Ozil quit Germany without talking to Joachim Low, German coach reveals as he speaks out on racism storm
Low claimed that Ozil's racism accusations 'went too far' in terms of pointing the finger at the entire German FA
GERMANY boss Joachim Low has revealed Mesut Ozil didn't speak to him before retiring from international football.
The Arsenal midfielder took the decision to quit after Germany's shambolic World Cup performance, with the defending champs dumped out at the group stage.
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But it emerged Ozil was fuming after believing he was 'hung out to dry' after meeting controversial Turkey president Recep Erdogan before the World Cup.
He accused the German FA of racism and after 92 appearances for the national team, packed it in.
Now Low, who has kept his job despite Germany's embarrassing Russian exit, has spoken for the first time about the fall-out.
Speaking to German press for the first time since the World Cup, he said: "Ozil‘s agent told me about his retirement. He himself did not call me.
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Arsenal star Mesut Ozil ends Germany international career over racism and disrespect
"I wanted to speak to him but couldn’t reach him afterwards."
Low, 58, claimed that other players have always called him when quitting international football, but that Ozil "chose another path".
The Arsenal star has Turkish heritage and was accused of endorsing Erdogan’s bid for re-election - but insists they only spoke about football.
The World Cup winner was booed in Germany’s warm-up games and flopped as the defending champions tumbled out of the group stage.
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Germany and Arsenal star Mesut Ozil announces retirement from international football aged 29
Ozil was sent to see DFB president Reinhard Grindel by Germany boss Low following the picture with Erdogan — which also featured Man City’s Ilkay Gundogan and Everton’s Cenk Tosun.
Grindel called for the midfield maestro to be axed from the squad before the tournament started and then publicly blamed him for Germany’s failure in Russia.
During a follow-up meeting, Ozil accuses Grindel of “belittling” and “patronising” him - and it's clear to see why he decided to retire from Germany duty.
Low insisted "there was never a single attempt of racism or anything similar in our team," and he went on to claim Ozil's accusations "went too far" in terms of pointing the finger at the German FA.
One journalist who attended the German press conference described how's Low's comments were "harsher towards Ozil than I expected" and described how the "room was a little stunned".
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Ozil looks like he might have some club problems right now too.
SunSport reported how he threw a sickie after Unai Emery revealed he would play his Arsenal star in a different role against West Ham.
The German was hauled into the boss’ office on Thursday to discuss a new role after the stroppy playmaker was subbed in the 3-2 defeat at Chelsea.
The £350,000-a-week Gunner claimed he was too ill to train on Friday and made himself unavailable on Saturday.
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