An incident occurred a week ago. It was one which shook the entire German nation and even the world at large although it didn't result in an earthquake, neither did it cause a blood moon to show up that day. It was Mesut Ozil who officially dropped the bombshell over his retirement from national side football. According to the Arsenal star via a post on some of his social media pages, 'racism and disrespect' for his Turkish root fuelled his decision.
Remember that before the Russia 2018 World Cup, a picture of Ozil, Gundogan and the Turkish President surfaced leading to massive backlash from many Germans. Ozil was insulted and tagged a traitor for striking a pose with the leader of Turkey as they saw that as a sign of divided loyalty. The timing of such an act was also questioned.
The situation calmed down for a while then became aggravated when the 2014 World Cup champions, Germany, made an early exit from the 2018 edition of the tournament. As if the verbal attacks on Ozil prior to the commencement of the World Cup weren't enough, he was singled out for blame when Germany were sent packing in the group stage. All these became too much for the 29-year-old to stomach so he resolved to say goodbye to a team he felt have no regards for him.
As he got screwed by some who were pained that he retired, many football lovers, not just Arsenal fans, stood behind him. They endorsed his move and silenced people like Ulli Hoeness that labelled Ozil 'shit'. The midfielder has since shown appreciation those who stood by him as the whole drama unfolded.
Ozil in the midst of the controversy travelled with the rest of the Arsenal team to Singapore where we participated in the International Champions Cup. Thursday saw us record a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid who eventually triumphed through penalty shootout. Ozil sat out of the encounter but would later impress.
Saturday came and Paris Saint Germain were the opponents. Ozil starred by scoring the opener from an Aubameyang low cross in the 13th minute after which Nkunku equalised for the French side from the penalty spot in the 60th minute. Arsenal did not take so long to respond and Lacazette was the man who brought back our lead seven minutes later then secured a brace three minutes after to make it 3-1.
Rob Holding and Nketiah wrapped it up with one each and at the end, it was 5-1 in Arsenal's favour. Great way to gain boost for the coming season, isn't it? We aren’t letting preseason results get into our head but while shoving such results aside, we should not overlook some positives from them.
Lastly is the Financial Times' claim that Arsenal shareholder, Alisher Usmanov is weighing a potential sale of his shares. Usmanov as we know has for so long sought to acquire more shares at the club so as to have a firm control of affairs but all attempts fell on rocky soil with Stan Kroenke unwilling to part with his. It could now be that the Russian who has so long not approved of the way the club is being run is ready to give up and move on.
This information is not totally reliable since nothing official has surfaced about it. As usual we will definitely get to know at the right hour.
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