It was a drama right until the end. Not just a statement, but a statement delivered in three acts. With deliberately staged intervals. In what was a highly-charged and controversial announcement, Mesut Özil spared nobody. Here, I attempt to unpick
A shoot, a signature, and a scandal. Özil, Gündoğan and the Erdoğan affair
Against Saudi Arabia last Saturday, İlkay Gündoğan got off the bench to replace Marco Reus. His arrival was met with a chorus of jeers, boos and whistles from the Leverkusen crowd. To the casual watcher, it must have been a
Rebranded Mannschaft slump to late defeat against energetic USA
It’s a bright early evening in Cologne, with Joachim Löw’s newly-rebranded “Die Mannschaft” taking on former boss Jürgen Klinsmann’s United States – a repeat of the World Cup group game between the two sides last year in a soggy Recife
The Fulfillment of a Dream: Philipp Lahm calls it a day
Just days after lifting the World Cup trophy in Rio de Janeiro, Germany’s much-respected Spielführer Philipp Lahm created a stir in the footballing world by announcing his retirement from the Nationalmannschaft. For many German fans who had expected him to
Slaughter in Salvador: It’s Müller Time as Portugal are Pummelled
So finally, the show begins with the opening match against Portugal. It’s a bright afternoon in Salvador, the port city in north-east of Brazil and capital of the Bahia region. It is the second game to be played at the