Germany star Toni Kroos has slammed Mesut Ozil’s allegation of racism within and around the national team.
Ozil attracted criticism following Germany’s exit from the group stage of the World Cup and that led to the player announcing his retirement from international football.
Hailing from Turkish origins, the Arsenal star insisted that racism in and around the German national team forced him to take the decision to walk out of international football.
Kroos believes his former team-mate deserved a better send off from the national team, but stressed that a large portion of Ozil’s farewell statement was just nonsense.
The Germany midfielder is certain that there is no racism within the team or the national board and Ozil was himself a symbol of diversity in the team like many other players, who have foreign origins.
Kroos told German magazine Sport Bild: “Basically Mesut deserved to be a national team player and deserved a better farewell.
“I have played with Mesut for many years and I know that he is a nice guy, but the method of his resignation was not ok.
“The part of it which was good and properly was unfortunately overshadowed by the much higher proportion of nonsense.
“I think he himself knows that racism doesn’t exist in the national team or the DFB. On the contrary we are always committed to diversity and integration.
“Mesut was a good example of that as are many of my fellow team-mates.”
Making his debut in February 2009, Ozil went on to earn 92 international caps for Germany and netted 23 goals.
